Air Force Test Pilot Dies In Cirrus Crash

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Key Takeaways:

  • Maj. Lee Berra, a U.S. Air Force test pilot training to be an instructor, was killed in a Cirrus SR22 crash while commuting between Joint Base San Antonio and Stinson Airport.
  • Two Royal Canadian Air Force pilots (an instructor and student) safely ejected from their CT-156 Harvard II trainer during a routine flight near Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, sustaining non-life-threatening injuries.
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The pilot killed in the crash of Cirrus SR22 last week was an Air Force test pilot who was training to become an instructor. Maj. Lee Berra was the only occupant of the aircraft, which he used to commute to Joint Base San Antonio from nearby Stinson Airport. Berra was on his way from San Antonio to Stinson when the crash occurred. He was an operational B-1 pilot before completing test pilot school at Edwards Air Force Base last July. He’d been training at San Antonio for three weeks. Meanwhile two Canadian air force pilots are safe after they ejected from their training aircraft on Friday.

Royal Canadian Air Force officials say the instructor and student were on a routine training flight when something went wrong with their CT-156 Harvard II trainer and they abandoned the plane about two miles south of the training base at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Both pilots suffered non-life-threatening injuries. One was airlifted to the hospital. Their identities have not been released.

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