Legondary Pilot Missing

[rpm]

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Authorities were searching early Thursday for a small plane registered to a famed test pilot that vanished from radar on Wednesday on a flight from Prattville, Alabama, to Manassas, Virginia.

Air traffic control last had contact with the plane registered to test pilot Scott Crossfield about 11 a.m. Wednesday when it was about 10 miles southwest of Ellijay, Georgia, about 60 miles north of Atlanta, an FAA spokeswoman told CNN.

The spokeswoman said she could not confirm who was aboard the single engine plane.

Crossfield, 84, was the first man to fly the X-15 rocket-powered jet and made aeronautical history in 1953 by becoming the first pilot to fly faster than Mach 2 (twice the speed of sound).

Capt. Paige Joyner of the Civil Air Patrol also would not confirm the identity of the pilot but said the family had reported no contact.

Joyner said the plane departed Prattville, about 12 miles northwest of Montgomery, at about 9 a.m.

[SMIDSY]

if he is dead, he died doing what he loves. no better way to go.

[AWMac]

They found the wreckage with his body inside.



Mac

[dynamt]

This was his flight path.
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N6579X

[Callisto]

At 84 isnt he a little too old to fly?

[Wolfala]

Originally posted by Callisto
At 84 isnt he a little too old to fly?

Seeing how Yeager was flying F-15's into his 70s - the answer is no.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I bet he went out the way he always dreamed to.

[Nilsen]

Originally posted by Wolfala
Seeing how Yeager was flying F-15's into his 70s - the answer is no.

uh.. big difference between "in his 70s" and 84 but still... impressive.

[Stringer]

Originally posted by MrRiplEy[H]
I bet he went out the way he always dreamed to.

Having the dashboard of his airplane act like a sieve through which his body got rammed?

[ChickenHawk]

I hope I'm still flying at 84.

[Mustaine]

Originally posted by MrRiplEy[H]
I bet he went out the way he always dreamed to.

i don't think anyone would dream of being smashed into the ground then probably burned

[dynamt]

AOPA reports He was flying a 1960 210 (that's the 1st year of production). I just assumed He was flying a late year model.

Regardless, they also report he encountered a Tstorm.

[Maverick]

Fair skies and tailwinds forever, to a great pilot.

[schizer]

We had some pretty bad weather in parts of GA yesterday.


http://www.wsbtv.com/news/8848425/detail.html


RANGER -- The son-in-law of legendary test pilot Scott Crossfield confirmed Thursday that Crossfield's body was found in the wreckage of his plane in north Georgia.

Ed Fleming said authorities told him Crossfield's body was found in the plane.

Crossfield, thm first man to fly at Mach Two, twice the speed of sound, was flying from Alabama to Virginia yesterday when his plane disappeared.

The Civil Air Patrol, a Georgia helicopter and searchers on foot found the wreckage shortly after 1 p.m. today in the mountains near Ranger. A Civil Air Patrol spokeswoman said the area is near the Gordon-Pickens County line.

The plane left Prattville, Alabama, around 9 a.m. yesterday en route to Manassas, Virginia.

The Edwards Air Force Base Web site says Crossfield became the first man to fly at twice the speed of sound piloting the Douglas D-558-Two Skyrocket to a speed of 1,291 miles per hour in November 1953.

He was featured in the movie The Right Stuff, based on the book by the same name by Tom Wolfe.

[Hawklore]

Looks like he tried to get away from the storm and ended up running into one even bigger.