We may have lost another American Hero :(

Famed test pilot missing in flight

Thursday, April 20, 2006; Posted: 7:52 a.m. EDT (11:52 GMT)


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 jet and the first pilot to fly faster than Mach 2. He was the test pilot for several other research aircraft and won dozens of awards and honors for his pioneering work. Crossfield's test pilot character was immortalized in the book by Tom Wolfe, "The Right Stuff," and portrayed by actor Scott Wilson in the movie of the same name.

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.

Sad, but at 84 you have to wonder if he should still be flying...assuming he was the pilot of course.

Found in the wreckage of his airplane in northern Georgia.

Found in the wreckage of his airplane in northern Georgia.

Ahh that's a shame. It's a nice thing I suppose that he was able to do what he obviously loved doing, but it's also a good thing he didn't crash into anyone else.