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X-15 Flight 3-65-97, also known as X-15 Flight 191 (being the 191st free flight of the X-15), was a sub-orbital spaceflight of the North American X-15 experimental spaceplane, carrying seven experiments to a peak altitude of 266,000 feet (50.4 mi; 81 km; 43.8 nmi), above NASA's definition of the start of space at 50 miles (80 km) but below the Kármán line definition at 62 miles (100 km).
The first X-15 flight was an unpowered glide flight by Scott Crossfield, on 8 June 1959. Crossfield also piloted the first powered flight on 17 September 1959, and his first flight with the XLR-99 rocket engine on 15 November 1960. Twelve test pilots flew the X-15.
X-15 Flight 191 Michael James Adams (May 5, 1930 – November 15, 1967) ( Maj USAF ) was an American aviator , aeronautical engineer , and USAF astronaut . [ 1 ] He was one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15 , an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the Air Force and NASA .
During X-15 Flight 191, Adams' seventh flight, the plane had an electrical problem followed by control problems at the apogee of its flight. The pilot may also have become disoriented. During reentry from a 266,000 ft (50.4 mile, 81.1 km) apogee, the X-15 yawed and went into a spin at Mach 5.
Twelve pilots flew the X-15 over the course of its career. Scott Crossfield and William Dana flew the X-15 on its first and last free flights, respectively. Joseph Walker set the program's top two altitude records on its 90th and 91st free flights (347,800 and 354,200 feet, respectively), becoming the only pilot to fly past the Kármán line, the 100 kilometer, FAI-recognized boundary of outer ...
American Airlines Flight 5342 and a U.S. Army Black Hawk collided in Washington, D.C. Authorities believe all 67 on board both aircraft died.
At age 32, Lawrence was killed in a plane crash at Edwards AFB on December 8, 1967. [1] He was flying backseat in an F-104 as the instructor pilot for flight test trainee Major Harvey Royer, who was learning the steep-descent glide technique. Royer made such an approach but flared too late.
On Feb. 15, 1961, the entire U.S. figure skating team died in a plane crash in Belgium on its way to the that year's world championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia.