York Man Killed in Plane Crash was Army Test Pilot

By Amber Lester Kennedy Wednesday, April 06, 2011

A York County resident was killed Sunday when the plane he was piloting crashed in Chesapeake.

James Lawrence Stidfole II, 45, was flying an airplane he constructed when he crashed near the runway at the Chesapeake Regional Airport. Both Stidfole and his sister, Theresa Marie Hill, 42, were killed on impact.

Stidfole was an experimental test pilot for the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s Aviation Applied Technology Directorate. The directorate is a tenant unit at Fort Eustis that transitions critical technologies to enhance Army Aviation through research, development and engineering of rotorcraft and unmanned aerial vehicle systems and technology, according to a press release from Fort Eustis.

Stidfole joined the Army in 1989 and became a warrant officer in 1993. Before being assigned to AATD in 2007, he served at Fort Rucker, Ala. as an instructor pilot for the 14th Aviation Regiment. Later, he served as an experimental test pilot for the Aviation Technology Test Center at Fort Rucker. During his service, Stidfole received the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Joint Services Achievement Medal, Air Assault Badge and Parachutist Badge.

The National Transportation Safety Board and Virginia State Police are investigating the cause of the crash.