The record-breaking American adventurer Steve Fossett has gone missing, it emerged tonight.

A search was underway through hundreds of miles of rugged terrain in Nevada after contact was lost with Fossett yesterday evening.

The 63-year-old explorer, famed for his solo flights around the world by plane and balloon, was last seen flying out in a blue and white single-engine plane from the Hilton Ranch, south of Smith Valley, the area's Record-Courier newspaper reported.

The explorer's office refused to comment.

Major Cynthia S. Ryan, a spokesman for the Civil Air Patrol in Nevada, told the Record-Courier that three crews were in the air looking for Fossett's aircraft. “We will be launching more shortly,” she added.

Ian Gregor, a US federal aviation administration spokesman, said that Fossett had not informed the authorities as to where he was going, which complicated the search.

“The Civil Air Patrol is looking for him. One problem is he doesn’t appear to have filed a flight plan," he said.

“They are working on some leads, but they don’t know where he is right now.”

Last year, Fossett made worldwide headlines when he smashed the record for flying further than anyone in history.

He flew 26,389.3 miles in the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer and the record-breaking round-the-world journey lasted 76 hours and 45 minutes, beating the former record of 25,361 miles set by the Breitling Orbiter balloon in 1999. The journey was sponsored by British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson.

In 2002, he was the first person to fly solo around the world in a balloon.

He was reportedly preparing for an attempt to break the land speed record in a jet racer, scheduled for September.

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