Scott Crossfield, a legendary test pilot who pushed the boundaries of flight in supersonic planes, died Wednesday when the small Cessna he was piloting crashed into the pine-shrouded mountains of northeast Georgia. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Herndon, Va., resident was part of a team of X-plane pilots whose fantastic flying feats helped make the dream of human spaceflight a reality.

The body of Mr. Crossfield, 84, was found Thursday afternoon amid the wreckage of his Cessna 210, which he had flown for years. He was returning home from Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala., where he had given a talk, and was believed to be the only person aboard. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the cause of the crash.



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