RENO, Nev. -- The new report on Steve Fossett's fatal airplane crash said there was confusion over the timing of a reported sighting of his plane the day it disappeared.

And it suggests the confusion steered searchers away from a radar trail that could have helped locate the crash site near Mammoth Lakes, Calif., shortly after he went missing on Labor Day 2007.

The report by the National Transportation Safety Board said the 20-minute long radar track originally had been ruled out as the accident flight due to a witness report of seeing the airplane near Yerington at the time of the track.

It said the witness reported the time of his sighting based on a telephone call with a friend. The search team initially used the time provided by the witness.

But later, after the wreckage was found last year and they revisited the radar data, it was determined from the telephone company's time log that the witness-reported time was off by one hour.

The NTSB concluded the fatal crash probably was caused by downdrafts that exceeded the ability of his small plane to recover before slamming into the Sierra. It found no sign of mechanical failures or other problems.