Only one of the two pilots of Virgin Galactic Ltd.'s SpaceShipTwo crash made it out alive. Peter Siebold, the surviving pilot, recently spoke to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), telling them the harrowing story of how he survived the October 31 crash.
Siebold said that when the ship began to crash about nine miles above Earth, he must have unbuckled himself at some point, and the parachute he was wearing activated, carrying him to safety. The plane crashed over the desert in California.
Siebold said that his co-pilot, Michael Alsbury, had unlocked a braking system earlier than he was supposed to, but that Siebold was not aware of this during the flight. A video that was taken onboard the ship confirmed that Alsbury unlocked the braking mechanism too early. This mechanism was supposed to help the spacecraft move into a "feathered" position, but by unlocking it too early it caused the spacecraft to be ripped apart. Alsbury died in the plane crash.
Pilots are supposed to unlock the braking system once they reach a speed of about 920 miles an hour. Alsbury unlocked the system when his plane was flying at a speed of about 660 miles per hour, which may have been a mistake. However, the NTSB safety report will not focus only on Alsbury's possible error, but look at the safety mechanisms on place on the spacecraft, as well as the safety training that the pilots received.
SpaceShipTwo was a test flight for Virgin Galactic Ltd., a company owned by Richard Branson. Branson hopes to begin sending private individuals into space soon. As early as February of this year, Branson has been selling tickets to space for $250,000. Virgin says that they have already sold 700 tickets to space, although they have not yet sent anyone there.
This crash might put a damper on some people's enthusiasm for a trip to space. However, this does not necessarily mean yet that Virgin will not try to send people to space in the future. Branson said in a press conference that if Virgin can find and overcome the cause for this crash, there's no reason to stop trying to send commercial passengers into space.
