Ronald J. Faris, BHS 1969
AIR FORCE FLIER DIES IN DESERT JET CRASH
Daily News of Los Angeles (CA) - Wednesday, February
12, 1986
Author: PATRICIA FARRELL AIDEM, Daily News Staff
Writer
An Air Force flight engineer was killed Tuesday when the supersonic aircraft he was aboard crashed in the remote desert north of Edwards Air Force Base.
Faris was seated in the rear of the two-seat Phantom, said Haley, adding that officials are uncertain why he did not eject. The planes, built in St. Louis by McDonnell-Douglas Corp., have a good safety record at Edwards and are flown daily by trainees, he added.
Faris, 34, and Moss, 32, are assigned to the Edwards
flight test center and were on a required proficiency
training exercise, Haley said. The two were returning to the
base 10 minutes after takeoff when they declared an
emergency, Haley added. An investigative board was formed
immediately to determine the cause of the accident.
Faris, a Glendale native, is survived by his wife
Judith and the couple's two daughters, Kasey, 5, and Brook,
2. His parents, John and Marian Faris, recently moved from
their Glendale home, Haley said. Faris has been in the Air
Force since 1973 and had been stationed at Edwards since
December 1981.
Burbank High Principal William Bertrand, Faris's gym teacher at Muir Junior High School, remembered Faris as a "good strong student, the kind of kid that always accomplished the extra effort." "Usually you remember two types of students -- those who present a problem and those who always excel," Bertrand said. "Ron was the second kind."
Tuesday's crash came exactly two weeks after the space shuttle explosion that killed seven astronauts, including two men who had trained at Edwards. The accident also came in the wake of Edwards' announcement of its perfect 1985 flight safety record.