Renowned test pilot dies in plane crash
By Carol Kennedy
Published on April 20, 2006
The wreckage was discovered on Thursday afternoon in a mountainous area 50 miles northwest of Atlanta.
The plane departed Prattville at around 9 a.m. on Wednesday and was headed to Manassas. Officials say they lost radio contact with Crossfield's single-engine Cessna at 11:15 a.m.
According to Kathleen Bergen, a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration, there were thunderstorms in the area around the time of the accident.
In the early 1950s, Crossfield was one of a select group of civilians chosen to fly research aircraft for the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics -- the precursor to NASA. Scott Crossfield was the first person to fly at twice the speed of sound and he was a U.S. Navy fighter pilot and instructor during World War II.
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