NASA Astronaut Killed in Plane Crash

NASA astronaut Patricia Hilliard Robertson was killed as a result of injuries sustained in a plane crash 22 May 2001 in Manvel, TX. She was a passenger in a two-seat experimental aircraft that was performing touch and go landings. Both she and the pilot, who was critically injured, had second and third degree burns over 90 percent of their bodies. Robertson was part of the astronaut medical corps and had been selected as an astronaut candidate in 1998 and was awaiting assignment to her first flight.

NTSB Identification: FTW01LA125
Date:22 May 2001
Location: Manvel, TX
Aircraft: Gideon Wittman Tailwind, registration: N3GJ

Dr. Robertson was not the first NASA astronaut to be killed on a plane crash. According to the September 2013 version of the Astronaut Fact Book, four astronauts, all awaiting their first flight, were killed in three T-38 crashes. In addition to Dr. Robinson, three other active astronauts have been killed in civilian plane crashes: Stephen Thorne, Manley Carter, and David Griggs.

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