Astronaut, 49, Dies in Crash of Vintage Aircraft

Astronaut S. David Griggs, who flew on the space shuttle in 1985 and was in training to pilot a mission in November, died Saturday when the vintage plane he was flying slammed into a field, authorities said.

Jeff Carr, a NASA spokesman at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, said that Griggs was flying a World War II North American T-6, “a vintage trainer airplane,” and that he apparently was performing aerobatics at the time of the accident.

“I was told he was out here practicing this morning and was going to go to an air show at Clarksville, Ark.,” said Peter Kerwin, an investigator for the Federal Aviation Administration who was on the scene.

An astronaut since August, 1979, Griggs, 49, had been undergoing training as pilot for shuttle flight No. 33, aboard the Discovery, NASA said.

“Based on what we do know in our experience with shuttle crew training, we don’t see anything that would signal that we could not continue to move toward that November launch date,” Carr said.

The veteran pilot had more than 9,000 hours of flying time, officials said.

Occurred Near Memphis

Lamar Coleman, a dispatcher for the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Department, said that the crash occurred south of Earle, about 20 miles west of Memphis, Tenn.

Coleman said Griggs, of Portland, Ore., was flying for McNeely Charter Service, a private air service based in Earle.

Carr said a replacement for Griggs would have to be named within the next week or so, adding that it should not be a problem to draw from the pool of available astronauts.

“We’re five months out from flight,” Carr said. “Training doesn’t really begin until about this time.” Three other flights, in July, September and October, are scheduled before the November launching.

No NASA Restrictions

When asked whether NASA placed any restrictions on what astronauts could do in their own time, including risky activities, Carr replied:

“You can’t lock these guys in their houses. These guys have thousands of hours of flying experience. They take a greater risk driving down the Gulf Freeway in Houston than by flying. There are no restrictions on piloting.”

Griggs flew as a mission specialist on a shuttle mission in April, 1985, that included Sen. Jake Garn (R-Utah).

He was appointed chief of the Shuttle Training Aircraft Operations Office in January, 1976. His responsibility included operational use of the shuttle trainer.