Charles Yeager, first person to break sound barrier and a great friend of PAF, dies aged 97

Retired Air Force Brigadier General Charles "Chuck" Yeager, a World War II fighter pilot and the test pilot who became the first person to break the sound barrier in 1947, has died at the age of 97.

On Monday, upon hearing the news of Yeager's death, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement that it was "a tremendous loss to our nation".

Bridenstine added that "Gen. Yeager’s pioneering and innovative spirit advanced America’s abilities in the sky and set our nation’s dreams soaring into the jet age and the space age".

Yeager was born in February 1923, in a small community southwest of Charleston. After graduating from high school in 1941, Yeager enlisted in the Army Air Corps, and despite starting off as an aircraft mechanic, he later found himself in the thick of battle during the Second World War.

After World War II, he became a test pilot beginning at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. On the 14th of October 1947, Yeager pushed the Bell X-1 Rocket Plane past the 660mph mark to break the sound barrier; which was a remarkable (and equally daunting) aviation achievement at the time.

Chuck Yeager and the Pakistan Air Force: From 1971 to 1973, Yeager was appointed as the United States Defense Representative in Pakistan, during the Indo-Pak clash in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Yeager was given the responsibility to monitor and train air force personnel, and familiarizing them with American equipment for their relatively older Chinese-made jets.

He was known as a great friend of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and advised Pakistani pilots on many matters of aviation.

Yeager spoke about his impression of the Pakistan Air Force in his autobiography that, "They were really good, aggressive dogfighters and proficient in gunnery and air combat tactics. I was damned impressed. Those guys just lived and breathed flying".

Yeager stayed in Pakistan for nearly a year after the war, calling it "one of the most enjoyable times of my life".