Col Steve Austin - M2-F2 Crash

On May 10th, 1967; NASA astronaut, and test pilot; Colonel Steve Austin was severely injured when his M2-F2 experimental Lifting Body Design aircraft impacted the dry lake bed surface before its gear was properly extended. Col Austin transmitted "Flight com, I can't hold her! She's breaking up! She's break—" The M2-F2 rolled over six times, before coming to a stop.

Col Austin was removed from the wreckage by rescue personnel, and flown to the base hospital. An Air Force spokesperson released the following statement. "We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better...stronger...faster."

All jokes aside, the test pilot who was actually at the controls of the M2-F2 on its sixteenth and final glide flight was test pilot Bruce Peterson.

Due to the inherently unstable aircraft design, the M2-F2 suffered a pilot-induced oscillation (PIO) as the dry lake bed was approached during final. The lateral control problems were still evident, even with the presence of a stability augmentation control system, the short blended wings of the M2-F2 produced considerably less roll authority than most aircraft.

During the last moments of the lifting body test flight, the vehicle rolled from side to side as Peterson attempted to bring it under control. Peterson recovered, only then distracted by a rescue helicopter, he drifted in a crosswind to an unmarked area of the lake bed beyond the markers provided on the lake bed runway to allow the pilot to judge altitude over the featureless surface.

Peterson fired the M2-F2 landing rockets for immediate lift but hit the lake bed before his gear was fully down and locked. At impact, the M2-F2 twisted, and rolled over six times, coming to rest upside down.  Peterson was pulled from the wreckage, and rushed to the March Air Force Base Hospital, then the UCLA Hospital where he recovered but unfortunately lost vision in his right eye.

Peterson admitted he hated seeing that test flight crash over and over at the opening sequence of "Six Million Dollar Man" as the popular TV show aired Peterson's crash sequence in the start of each episode on television, every week for almost a decade. 

Pictured: Col Austin during debrief with NASA officials after the test flight incident. Image credit:  NACA/NASA/EAFB/OSI Archives