Air Force Grad Severely Injured In DA-20 Accident

She held on longer than anyone expected... but Aero-News has learned Second Lieutenant Taryn Robinson, the 22-year-old Air Force pilot who was severely burned in a September crash that claimed the life of her flying instructor, succumbed to her injuries Tuesday. She would have been 23 years old next month.

As was reported in Aero-News, Robinson and her civilian instructor were flying near San Antonio, TX on September 21 when their Diamond DA-20 clipped power lines and impacted the ground, coming to rest inverted in a grass field.

Robinson's instructor, who worked for Stinson Flying School, is believed to have been pilot-in-command of the two-seat trainer when it went down. He perished at the scene, but a passer-by was able to pull Robinson from the wreckage as it caught fire.

She still suffered third-and-fourth degree burns over 80 percent of her body, as well as several additional injuries. Over the last three-and-a-half months, Robinson had undergone countless skin grafts, and had been fighting a blood infection.

Robinson was the daughter of former Goodfellow AFB commanding officer Loci Robinson, according to the San Angelo Standard Times. She had been assigned to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio when she was injured.

The young lieutenant, a member of the Air Force Academy's graduating Class of 2005, had been learning to fly as part of the Air Force's flight training program, according to the Standard Times.

Second Lieutenant Taryn Robinson has gone west, where there is no more pain, and nothing to restrict her pursuit of the thing she loved most -- flying. Happy landings, Lieutenant.

FMI: www.usafa.af.mil, www.tarynrobinson.com (Family's Website)