Test Pilot Scott Crossfield Killed in Crash

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RANGER, Ga. (AP) _ Scott Crossfield, the hotshot test pilot and aircraft designer who in 1953 became the first man to fly at twice the speed of sound, was killed in the crash of his small plane, authorities said Thursday. He was 84. Crossfield's body was found in the wreckage Thursday in the mountains about 50 miles northwest of Atlanta, a day after the single-engine plane he was piloting dropped off radar screens on a flight from Alabama to Virginia. There were thunderstorms in the area at the time.

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Preyers for his family.

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Killed in a plane crash at 84.
While piloting a Cessna 210A.


Scott Crossfield, the University of Washington graduate who was the first man to fly at twice the speed of sound, was found dead Thursday in the wreckage of his single-engine plane in Georgia.

Crossfield, 84, dueled with Chuck Yeager a half century ago in piloting rocket-powered aircraft. He helped design and then piloted the X-15 rocket plane. He was a legend to aeronautic students at the UW, but he considered his cutting-edge career an ordinary profession. Air-traffic monitors had lost radio and radar contact with Crossfield Wednesday as he was en route from Alabama to his Virginia home. Thunderstorms were reported in the area.