On the morning of 11 July 1986, Major Ross E. "Mule" Mulhare took off in 792 on a one-ship training mission from Tonopah Test Range at 0113 hours.

THE PILOTS MEMORIAL AS IT LOOKED IN 1987

His flight, using the call sign ARIEL 31, was the last on the flight schedule in the pre-dawn hours. Mulhare's aircraft was not operating in low observable "stealth" mode. His navigation lights were switched on and radar reflectors allowed air traffic controllers to track the aircraft. The controllers were told that they were tracking A-7 attack aircraft on night training missions.

After executing a 90-degree turn over the town of Tonopah, Mulhare climbed to 20,000 feet to pass over the Sierra Nevada under the supervision of Oakland and Los Angeles air traffic control centers. Los Angeles Center granted Mulhare's request to descend to 17,000 feet. He then cancelled his IFR flight plan, a routine procedure when leaving controlled airspace.

As Mulhare turned east, the lights of Bakersfield vanished and were replaced by the darkness of the Tehachapi Mountains. At approximately 0145, Mulhare's aircraft entered into a steep dive and impacted in a rugged canyon about a mile above the Kern River. The jet struck the ground at a 60-degree nose-down angle, and may have been supersonic at the time of impact. Mulhare made no attempt to eject, and was killed when the aircraft disintegrated.

Investigators later surmised that the pilot had become disoriented during the turn to the southeast because he had no visual cues. Also, the unusual air-data system on the F-117A does not function properly above Mach 1. If Mulhare's aircraft exceeded Mach 1 during its dive, attitude and airspeed data would have been degraded making recovery almost impossible.

A USAF security team was airlifted to the crash site, 15 miles northeast of Bakersfield in the Sequoia National Forest. The site was declared a National Defense Area and closed to public access and civilian overflights. For several weeks, USAF personnel conducted an extensive cleanup and investigation. Local firefighters who had responded at the time of the accident were required to sign agreements swearing them to secrecy regarding what they had seen. The existence of the F-117A was not declassified until November 1988.