An F-22 Raptor jet fighter crashed Wednesday in the high desert of Southern California.
The jet crashed six miles north of the base on Harbor Dry Lakebed, said Air Force Maj. David Small at the Pentagon.
Rescue crews were en route to the site and the status of the pilot was unknown, he said.
Small said the jet, assigned to Edwards' 412th Test Wing, was on a test mission but he did not know its nature.
Call to the base public affairs phone numbers were answered by recording machines.
The F-22 is the Air Force's new top-of-the-line fighter. Each of the radar-evading stealthy jets costs $140 million.
The $65 billion F-22 program is embattled, with some opponents contending that a different warplane under development, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, is more versatile and less costly at $80 million per plane.
The U.S. is committed to 183 F-22, down from the original plan laid out in the 1980s to build 750.
Its prime contractor, Lockheed Martin Corp., says there are 95,000 jobs connected to the F-22.
The F-22 is able to fly at supersonic speeds without using afterburners. That allows it to reach and stay in a battlespace faster and longer without being easily detected.
The two-engine fighter is 62 feet long, has a wingspan of 44 1/2 feet and is flown by a single pilot.
EDWARDS, AFB -- A Lockheed Martin test pilot died in the crash of an F-22 fighter jet near Edwards, AFB.
The company says in a statement Wednesday that the pilot was 49-year-old David Cooley.
He worked at the F-22 Combined Test Force, where a team of Lockheed Martin and Air Force pilots conduct F-22 aircraft testing.
The F-22 Raptor, one of the Air Force's top-of-the-line fighters, crashed 35 miles from Edwards in an area as Harper Dry Lake.
First responders transported Cooley from the crash scene to Victor Valley Community Hospital in Victorville, where he was pronounced dead.
The jet, assigned to the 411th Flight Test Squadron of Edwards' 412th Test Wing, was on a test mission, said Air Force Maj. David Small at the Pentagon.
Cooley, of Lancaster, was a 21-year Air Force veteran who joined Lockheed Martin in 2003.
"We are deeply saddened by the loss of David and our concerns, thoughts and prayers at this time are with his family," the statement said.
"This is a very difficult day for Edwards and those who knew and respected Dave as a warrior, test pilot and friend," said Maj. Gen. David Eichhorn, the Air Force Flight Test Center commander.
