Gen Chuck Yeager, 'Right Stuff' test pilot who broke sound barrier, dead at 97

FILE PHOTO: Gen. Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 "Glamorous Glinnis" in October 1947, poses next to a minature of the plane used in the film "The Right Stuff," at a screening in Hollywood, California, U.S. June 9, 2003. REUTERS/Fred Prouser/File Photo

(Reuters) - Chuck Yeager, the steely "Right Stuff" test pilot who took aviation to the doorstep of space by becoming the first person to break the sound barrier more than 70 years ago, died on Monday at the age of 97.

Yeager's death was announced on his twitter account by his wife, Victoria.