Death
On January 27, 1967, Grissom, White and Chaffee were participating in a "plugs-out" countdown demonstration test at Cape Kennedy in preparation for the planned February 21 launch, when a fire broke out in the cabin, killing all three men. Chaffee's is believed by some to be the first cockpit voice to report the fire to ground controllers. During the seventeen seconds that the fire raged, fed by pure oxygen at slightly greater than atmospheric pressure, Chaffee stayed strapped to his right-hand seat, as it was his job to maintain communications in an emergency, while White in the center seat apparently tried in vain to open the hatch. At that point, the increasing pressure burst the inner cabin wall. Now fed by ambient air, the fire decreased in intensity and eventually put itself out, but produced large amounts of smoke, which killed the astronauts.
Chaffee and Grissom are both buried in Section 3 of Arlington National Cemetery, while White is buried at West Point Cemetery.
Read more about this topic: Roger B. Chaffee
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