Mysterious plane crash in Nevada desert

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Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Eric Schultz, 44, died from injuries sustained in the crash. Schultz, who had been denied entry into the pilot training program three times due to poor eyesight, went into academia, where he earned six degrees including a doctorate in aerospace engineering from Caltech and an MBA from Penn State. Later, he was a senior scientist and business development manager at engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, and a rotary wing test engineer at the Naval Air Warfare Center.

After receiving corrective eye surgery, Schultz immediately joined the Air Force and became a fighter pilot. He had more than 2,000 flight hours in a variety of aircraft, including the F-15E Strike Eagle (which he flew on 50 close air support missions over Afghanistan) and Canadian CF-18 Hornet. Schultz was the 28th pilot to fly the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

His crash has led aviation watchers to ask: What aircraft was Schultz—a brilliant aerospace engineer and accomplished pilot—flying when his aircraft went down over Nevada? According to the Air Force, he was flying a training flight with an aircraft assigned to Air Force Material Command. According to Military.com, the Air Force has stated, "information about the type of aircraft involved is classified and not releasable." Asked this weekend about the crash, Air Force Chief of Staff David Goldfein said, "I can definitely say it was not an F-35."

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