RENO, Nev. – For two weeks, aviation has seemed nearly cursed in this rugged state known for stunning but treacherous flying.

Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett has been missing since he took off on what was to be a short flight over the desert 14 days ago.

Those searching for Fossett have now discovered more than a half dozen other crash sites, rusted-out wrecks where less-renowned pilots met lonely deaths and never were recovered.

And at the Reno Air Show, the premiere flying competition that has been held here for more than four decades, three crashes in four days claimed the lives of three pilots, horrified spectators and left a pall over the event as it ended on Sunday.

“The fact that Steve is missing was hanging over all of us as we arrived here,” said Ron Kaplan, director of the National Aviation Hall of Fame, as aircraft roared overhead.

Over the weekend, as hope grew ever dimmer of finding the missing aviator alive, search officials admitted they were going to have to evaluate how long to proceed with what has been a massive and exhausting search for Fossett. Officials with the Civil Air Patrol, Nevada National Guard and state emergency management will meet today to discuss their options.

Yet at the air show in Reno, where spectators had watched three pilots die in front of them in the preceding days, there was little optimism left for Fossett, who was to have been at the show.