Image: NTSB
The pilot of SpaceShipTwo, which crashed Oct. 31 in the Mojave Desert, told investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board he was unaware the feather system had been unlocked early by the copilot, theNTSBsaid this week. Peter Siebold, who is recovering from his injuries in the crash, told investigators Friday he was unaware of the control change made by copilot Michael Alsbury, who was killed during the vehicle’s in-flight breakup. Siebold said that he was extracted from the vehicle as a result of the break-up sequence and unbuckled from his seat at some point before the parachute deployed automatically, the NTSB said. Investigators have so far determined that SpaceShipTwo’s re-entry system deployed prematurely and caused the breakup, but has not determined a cause.
The NTSB continues to examine telemetry data and video from the Virgin Galactic test flight. The systems group is reviewing data from systems including flight controls, displays and environmental control, as well design data for the feather system components and the systems safety documentation. The vehicle performance group continues to examine the aerodynamic and inertial forces that acted on the vehicle during the launch. Meanwhile, the SpaceShipTwo wreckage has been recovered and is being stored in a secure location for the investigation. The test flight was part of Virgin Galactic’s space tourism project.
