One person dead as Virgin Galactics SpaceShipTwo rocket plane crashes on test flight. Virgin Galactic said plane designed for commercial space travel was undertaking test flight in California when an ‘in-flight anomaly’ occurred. A Virgin Galactic spacecraft crashed after an explosion during a test flight over the Mojave desert on Friday, killing one of the pilots, seriously injuring another and leaving debris scattered over a wide area. The plane, SpaceShipTwo, was undertaking a test flight as part of Sir Richard Branson’s plans for commercial space travel when a “serious anomaly” occurred, the company said. Witnesses reported the spacecraft broke apart soon after it was detached from the launch plane that carries it to 45,000ft. Rescuers found one of the pilots dead on the ground. The other, who appeared to have deployed an emergency parachute, was airlifted to a hospital with serious injuries. “Space is hard, and today was a tough day,” said George Whitesides, CEO and president of Virgin Galactic, at a news conference. Two pilots are usually on board for Virgin Galactic’s test flights, launched from a base in the Mojave desert. The identities of those involved in Friday’s accident, which happened just before 11am local time, were not immediately disclosed. The California Highway Patrol confirmed that one person was dead and another had suffered “major injuries” in the accident, which happened at 10.51am local time. The survivor was flown to hospital by air ambulance
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 22:18:36 +0000
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