Aero-Community Reacts To News Of Aviation Legend's Death

ANN REALTIME UPDATE 04.20.06 2035 EST: The aviation community was shocked today by news of aviation legend Scott Crossfield's death in the crash of a Cessna 210 Wednesday night in northern Georgia.

Aero-News is covering this story in real-time and will bring our readers a series of articles on Crossfield's passing... from reaction throughout the aero-community, to a retrospective on Crossfield's amazing career, and updates as investigators arrive at the scene of Wednesday's tragic accident and work to determine what went wrong.

For now, however, we leave you with a quote one poster wrote on an aviation bulletin board earlier today: "...at least the old chap died doing what he loved. Sounds trite, but a guy like Crossfield shouldn't go out getting hit by a bus either."

Previous Reports

ANN REALTIME UPDATE 04.20.06 1410 EST: Quoting the son-in-law of legendary test pilot Scott Crossfield, media reports indicate Crossfield, 84, was the victim found in the wreckage of a Cessna 210 in Northern Georgia. He was the only person onboard the aircraft.

ANN extends our condolences to Crossfield's family, as well as to his many friends and even more admirers in the aviation and aerospace communities. A giant has been lost.

Damn.

ANN REALTIME UPDATE: 04.20.06 1335EST: Aero-News has received confirmation the wreckage of a Cessna 210 Centurion belonging to famed pilot Scott Crossfield has been located in the forest of Northern Georgia by county fire chief. The plane disappeared from radar late Wednesday in the vicinity of thunderstorms.

Sources close to the scene tell ANN a coroner has been sent to the accident site to confirm the identity of the victim(s) of the accident. It remains unknown at this time whether Crossfield, 84, was onboard the aircraft.

ANN REALTIME UPDATE: 04.20.06 1235EST: There is still no official confirmation that record-setting pilot Scott Crossfield was onboard a Cessna 210 that is believed to have gone down over northwestern Georgia Wednesday... but sadly, it's not looking good.

The Civil Air Patrol is conducting the search for the missing aircraft, which is registered to Crossfield. The Associated Press reports a man who answered the phone at Crossfield's home near Manassas, VA -- the aircraft's planned destination -- wouldn't say whether Crossfield is missing.

Aero-News will continue to follow this story throughout the day, and will update this report as we receive futher information.

ANN REALTIME REPORTING: 04.20.06 0735EST: A Cessna 210 owned by aerospace legend Scott Crossfield is missing in Northwest Georgia. The Civil Air Patrol is now leading the search. At this time, It's not known whether Crossfield, 84, was PIC or even on board, when the plane disappeared about 60-miles northwest of Atlanta.

The single-engine aircraft, owned by Crossfield Aviation, was on a flight from Prattville, AL to Virginia late Wednesday. It went missing near Elijah, GA in what controllers described as strong thunderstorms. ANN is watching the story carefully and will keep you apprised as the story develops...

FMI: www.ntsb.gov