{"id":31508540,"date":"2026-11-06T17:26:47","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T16:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/?p=31508540"},"modified":"2026-11-06T17:27:01","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T16:27:01","slug":"x-15-crossfield-rosamond-dry-lake-hard-landing-1959","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/x-15-crossfield-rosamond-dry-lake-hard-landing-1959\/","title":{"rendered":"The Day the X-15 Broke Its Back: Crossfield&rsquo;s Rosamond Landing"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\n\n<style>\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid #0F1720;background:#fff;color:#0F1720;font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;font-weight:700;line-height:1;letter-spacing:0;text-transform:none;cursor:pointer;box-shadow:none;transition:background .15s,color 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He was in <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/north-american-x-15\/\">X-15<\/a> number two, 56-6671, on his fourth flight in the rocket plane and his third in this aircraft. Almost as soon as he lit the two Reaction Motors XLR11 engines, one of the four combustion chambers of the lower engine exploded, and fire broke out in the engine bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;border-left:4px solid #1a1a1a;padding:18px 22px;margin:24px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px\"><li><strong>Date:<\/strong> 5 November 1959<\/li><li><strong>Aircraft:<\/strong> North American X-15 No. 2, 56-6671<\/li><li><strong>Pilot:<\/strong> A. Scott Crossfield, North American Aviation<\/li><li><strong>Launch:<\/strong> NB-52A, about 45,000 ft, Mach 0.82<\/li><li><strong>Powered time:<\/strong> 11.7 seconds<\/li><li><strong>Propellant dump:<\/strong> 114 seconds; still about 1,000 lb overweight<\/li><li><strong>Landing:<\/strong> Rosamond Dry Lake, about 10 miles southwest of Edwards<\/li><li><strong>Rollout:<\/strong> About 1,500 ft instead of the usual 5,000 ft<\/li><li><strong>Flight time:<\/strong> 5 min 28 s<\/li><li><strong>Damage:<\/strong> Fuselage buckled just behind the cockpit<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Eleven Seconds of Thrust<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Crossfield shut both engines down after 11.7 seconds. The X-15 was not designed to land heavy, so he held it level for the 114 seconds it took to jettison the liquid oxygen and water-alcohol propellant. The tanks would not empty completely. When he turned for Rosamond Dry Lake, about ten miles southwest of Edwards, he was still roughly 1,000 pounds overweight. Major Robert M. White, in a chase F-104, called out his height above the lakebed as he came in.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Bent in Half<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The X-15 landed on two tail skids and a nose wheel. Crossfield described the skids digging in gently, and then the nose slamming down hard as the aircraft ploughed across the lakebed. It stopped in about 1,500 feet, against the usual 5,000. When he climbed out, unhurt, he saw that the fuselage had buckled immediately behind the cockpit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;What I saw almost broke my heart.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Scott Crossfield<\/strong> &mdash; <em>Always Another Dawn<\/em><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The flight had lasted 5 minutes 28 seconds. The investigation found that the nose-gear strut had extended rapidly and its oil had foamed, so it absorbed almost none of the impact. The landing checklist was changed so that pilots lowered the gear earlier. The aircraft went back to North American&rsquo;s plant for repair and returned to flight about three months later.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Crossfield and the X-15<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Crossfield already had his place in history: on 20 November 1953 he became the first pilot to fly at twice the speed of sound, in the Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket. He had made the X-15&rsquo;s first powered flight on 17 September 1959, in this same aircraft. In June 1960 he was in the cockpit of X-15-3 during a ground run of the new XLR99 engine when an explosion destroyed the rear of the aircraft; he was unhurt. His 14th and last X-15 flight, on 6 December 1960, ended North American&rsquo;s contractor test programme, and the aircraft passed to NASA and the Air Force. A NASA photograph shows him symbolically handing the keys to Air Force pilot Bob White and NASA pilot Neil Armstrong.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Fastest Aircraft Ever Flown<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">56-6671 was damaged again on 9 November 1962, when NASA pilot John McKay was seriously injured in a landing accident. North American rebuilt it once more, this time as the X-15A-2, with a fuselage stretched by more than two feet and two external propellant tanks. On 3 October 1967, Air Force Major William J. &ldquo;Pete&rdquo; Knight flew it to Mach 6.70, or 4,520 mph. No winged, piloted vehicle went faster until Space Shuttle Columbia re-entered from orbit in 1981, and no aircraft has gone faster since. The X-15A-2 is now displayed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. Crossfield died on 19 April 2006, aged 84.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What the Popular Version Gets Right<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The account circulating online is accurate: the 45,000-foot launch, the exploding chamber in the lower engine, 11.7 seconds of thrust, the 114-second dump, the 1,000 pounds of extra weight, Bob White in the chase F-104, the 1,500-foot rollout and the 5-minute 28-second flight all match the record. One nuance: the handover of the keys to White and Armstrong was a symbolic photograph. The first government pilots to fly the X-15 after Crossfield were NASA&rsquo;s Joe Walker and the Air Force&rsquo;s Bob White in 1960; Armstrong made his first X-15 flight later that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Sources: Bryan Swopes, This Day in Aviation, &ldquo;5 November 1959&rdquo;; Air Force Test Center, &ldquo;November 5, 1959: Test Pilot Scott Crossfield&rdquo;; NASA, &ldquo;X-15 Accident&rdquo; (photo E-9543); NASA History, &ldquo;65 Years Ago: First Factory Rollout of the X-15&rdquo; and &ldquo;65 Years Ago: First Powered Flight of the X-15&rdquo;; A. Scott Crossfield with Clay Blair, <em>Always Another Dawn<\/em> (1960).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\n\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\n\n\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\n\n\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What happened to the X-15 on 5 November 1959?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">On 5 November 1959 a combustion chamber in the lower engine of X-15 No. 2 exploded seconds after launch. Scott Crossfield shut down after 11.7 seconds, dumped propellant and made an emergency landing on Rosamond Dry Lake about 1,000 lb overweight. The nose gear hit hard and the fuselage buckled just behind the cockpit. Crossfield was unhurt.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why did the X-15 break on landing at Rosamond?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The X-15 was still about 1,000 lb overweight because its tanks would not fully drain, and the nose-gear strut extended rapidly and its oil foamed, so it absorbed almost none of the impact. The fuselage buckled about 230 inches behind the nose. The landing checklist was changed so pilots lowered the gear earlier.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Was Scott Crossfield hurt in the X-15 landing?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">No. Scott Crossfield climbed out of the X-15 on Rosamond Dry Lake unhurt on 5 November 1959. He later wrote that what he saw of the bent aircraft almost broke his heart.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Did the X-15 that broke its back fly again?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. X-15 No. 2, 56-6671, was repaired and flew again about three months later. After a second landing accident in November 1962 it was rebuilt as the X-15A-2, and in 1967 Pete Knight flew it to Mach 6.70, or 4,520 mph.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How many X-15 flights did Scott Crossfield make?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Scott Crossfield made 14 X-15 flights as North American Aviation&rsquo;s test pilot, including the first powered flight on 17 September 1959. His last, on 6 December 1960, ended the contractor test programme.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What is the fastest aircraft ever flown?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The fastest crewed aircraft is the North American X-15A-2, which Air Force Major Pete Knight flew to Mach 6.70, or 4,520 mph, on 3 October 1967. Only the Space Shuttle, re-entering from orbit, has flown faster as a winged piloted vehicle.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Where is the X-15A-2 today?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The X-15A-2, 56-6671, the aircraft Scott Crossfield landed on Rosamond Dry Lake in 1959, is displayed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What happened to the X-15 on 5 November 1959?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"On 5 November 1959 a combustion chamber in the lower engine of X-15 No. 2 exploded seconds after launch. Scott Crossfield shut down after 11.7 seconds, dumped propellant and made an emergency landing on Rosamond Dry Lake about 1,000 lb overweight. The nose gear hit hard and the fuselage buckled just behind the cockpit. 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X-15 No. 2, 56-6671, was repaired and flew again about three months later. After a second landing accident in November 1962 it was rebuilt as the X-15A-2, and in 1967 Pete Knight flew it to Mach 6.70, or 4,520 mph.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How many X-15 flights did Scott Crossfield make?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Scott Crossfield made 14 X-15 flights as North American Aviation\u2019s test pilot, including the first powered flight on 17 September 1959. His last, on 6 December 1960, ended the contractor test programme.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is the fastest aircraft ever flown?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The fastest crewed aircraft is the North American X-15A-2, which Air Force Major Pete Knight flew to Mach 6.70, or 4,520 mph, on 3 October 1967. Only the Space Shuttle, re-entering from orbit, has flown faster as a winged piloted vehicle.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Where is the X-15A-2 today?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The X-15A-2, 56-6671, the aircraft Scott Crossfield landed on Rosamond Dry Lake in 1959, is displayed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/d-558-2-skyrocket-crossfield-first-mach-2\/\">The Man Who First Doubled the Speed of Sound<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/mach-6-7-at-the-edge-of-space-the-x-15-story\/\">Mach 6.7 at the Edge of Space: The X-15 Story<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/the-north-american-x-15\/\">High Range Incident and the history of X-15<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Seconds after launch on 5 November 1959, one chamber of the X-15&rsquo;s lower rocket engine exploded. Scott Crossfield shut down, dumped what propellant he could and put down on Rosamond Dry Lake. The rocket plane buckled behind the cockpit. It went on to become the fastest aircraft ever flown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":31507929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31508540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Day the X-15 Broke Its Back: Crossfield, 5 November 1959 | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On 5 November 1959 an engine exploded seconds into Scott Crossfield\u2019s X-15 flight. He landed 1,000 lb overweight on Rosamond Dry Lake and the fuselage buckled. 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