U-2 Flights Resume after Pilot Killed in Crash

A U-2 Dragon Lady roared to life on the runway at Beale Air Force Base at 9:01 a.m. Friday and took flight into the skies above Yuba-Sutter for the first time since a pilot was killed and another injured in a crash in the Sutter Buttes on Tuesday.

The time -- 9:01 -- was chosen to honor Lt. Col. Ira Stephen "Shooter" Eadie, the pilot who died, and was representative of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing and the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron, the unit Eadie was assigned to, according to a press release from Beale.

Eadie and a co-pilot ejected from the TU-2S two-seat training version of the U-2 before the plane hit the ground. Both pilots' parachutes deployed.

The other pilot has not been identified, and Beale officials have not released an update on his condition since Wednesday when they said the pilot was in good condition at a local medical facility after suffering non-life-threatening injuries.

As operations return to some semblance of normalcy, an investigation is underway at the crash site next to Pass Road in the Sutter Buttes.