Chuck Yeager, a former U.S. Air Force officer who became the first pilot to break the speed of sound, died Monday. He was 97.
In a brief statement on Twitter, his wife, Victoria, said he died just before 9 p.m. ET.
“An incredible life well lived, America’s greatest Pilot, & a legacy of strength, adventure, & patriotism will be remembered forever,” she said.
Oct. 14, 1947, Yeager became the first test pilot to break the sound barrier as he flew the experimental Bell XS-1 (later X-1) rocket plane over Muroc Dry Lake in California.
NASA has said that Yeager nicknamed the plane "Glamourous Glenis" after his wife.
Yeager received both the Collier and Mackay trophies in 1948.
The pilot later commanded fighter squadrons in Germany and Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War and was promoted to brigadier general in 1969. He retired on March 1, 1975.
He became familiar to a younger generation 36 years later when the actor Sam Shepard portrayed him in the movie, "The Right Stuff," based on the Tom Wolfe book. The book and movie centered on the daring test pilots of the space program's early days.
Yeager himself even made a cameo as Fred, a bartender at Pancho's Palace.
He is survived by Victoria and his four children with first wife Glennis Yeager, who died in 1990.
The Associated Press contributed.
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Chuck Yeager, U.S. Air Force officer who broke speed of sound, dies at 97 - NBC News
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