 VSS Enterprise, the spacecraft involved in the accident, attached to its mothership, VMS Eve | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | October 31, 2014 |
| Summary | In-flight break-up caused by design flaw and pilot error |
| Site | Mojave Desert, California, United States |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo |
| Aircraft name | VSS Enterprise |
| Operator | Virgin Galactic |
| Registration | N339SS |
| Flight origin | Mojave Air and Space Port, California, United States |
| Destination | Mojave Air and Space Port |
| Occupants | 2 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Fatalities | 1 |
| Injuries | 1 |
| Survivors | 1 |
The VSS Enterprise crash occurred on October 31, 2014, when the VSS Enterprise, a SpaceShipTwo experimental spaceflight test vehicle operated by Virgin Galactic, suffered a catastrophic in-flight breakup during a test flight and crashed in the Mojave Desert near Cantil, California.[1][2] Co-pilot Michael Alsbury was killed and pilot Peter Siebold was seriously injured.
The National Transportation Safety Board later concluded that the breakup was caused by Alsbury's premature unlocking of the air brake device used for atmospheric re-entry. The NTSB said other important factors in the accident were inadequate design safeguards, poor pilot training and lack of rigorous oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).[3]
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