WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

This 1952 photograph shows the X-2 #2 (46-675) with a collapsed nose landing gear, after landing on the first glide flight at Edwards Air Force Base. The aircraft pitched at landing, slid along its main skid, and contacted the ground with the right wingtip bumper skid, causing it to break off. The nose wheel had collapsed upon contacting the ground. In the photo, Bell test pilot Jean Ziegler is still in the cockpit as ground crewmen stand by the aircraft. The X-2 #2 was subsequently destroyed in an explosion during captive flight on May 12, 1953, killing Ziegler and EB-50A crewmember Frank Wolko.