VSS Enterprise crash

VSS Enterprise crash

VSS Enterprise, the spacecraft involved in the accident, attached to its mothership, VMS Eve
Accident
Date	October 31, 2014 (2014-10-31)
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]