Virgin spacecraft crash investigation could take a year
The investigation into the Virgin Galactic spacecraft crash which killed one of its pilots could take about a year, the head of the US transport safety agency has said.
But Christopher Hart said Virgin Galactic would be able to conduct further test flights while the investigation took place, reports the BBC.
Virgin Galactic hit out at speculation about Friday’s accident in California’s Mojave Desert in a comment on its website last night.
It said: "Over the past few days, there has been speculation about the tragic incident the resulted in the death of Scaled Composites’ pilot, Michael Alsbury, injuries to pilot Peter Siebold and the loss of SpaceShipTwo.
"The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is in charge of the investigation and we are cooperating fully with their work. All inquiries should be directed to them.
"At Virgin Galactic, we are dedicated to opening the space frontier, while keeping safety as our ‘North Star’. This has guided every decision we have made over the past decade, and any suggestion to the contrary is categorically untrue."
During a powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo by Virgin Galactic’s partner Scaled Composites on Friday, there was a ‘serious anomaly resulting in the loss of the vehicle’.
Co-pilot Mike Alsbury, 39, was killed in the accident while pilot Peter Siebold, 43, managed to parachute to the ground.
The spacecraft was flying its first test flight for nine months when it crashed near the town of Bakersfield.
The space craft was using a new type of rocket fuel never before used in flight, although officials said it had undergone extensive ground testing.
Mr Hart, head of the NTSB told a news conference the test flight had been ‘heavily documented’ and his team would have to trawl through ‘extensive data’, which was why the full investigation could take ‘about 12 months or so’.
Virgin Galactic had hoped to launch commercially in 2015.
It has already taken more than 700 flight bookings at $250,000 (£156,000) each, with Sir Richard pledging to travel on the first flight.
Diane
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