Charles Arthur "Charlie" Bassett II (December 30, 1931 – February 28, 1966), (Major, USAF), was an American electrical engineer and United States Air Force test pilot.

Bassett's interest in model airplanes translated to real aircraft; he made his first solo flight at age 16.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in electrical engineering from Texas Tech and did graduate work at University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles.

[6] He returned from Korea in 1955 and was assigned to Suffolk County Air Force Base, in New York, flying aircraft such as the F-86D, the F-102, and the C-119.

[7] In November 1960, Bassett went to Maxwell Air Force Base, in Alabama, to attend Squadron Officer School.

Slayton had also assigned Bassett as command module pilot for the second backup Apollo crew, alongside Frank Borman and William Anders.

See was thrown clear of the cockpit and was found in the parking lot still strapped to his ejection seat with the parachute partially open.

Bassett was decapitated on impact; his severed head was found later in the day in the rafters of the damaged assembly building.

[17][18][19] During funeral services in Texas two days earlier, astronauts Jim McDivitt and Jim Lovell and civilian pilot Jere Cobb flew the missing man formation in Bassett's honor, while Buzz Aldrin, Bill Anders, and Walter Cunningham did the same to honor See.

[25] Texas Tech University dedicated an Electrical Engineering Research Laboratory building in Bassett's honor in November 1996.