A device on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, which is designed to slow the plane down before descent, was deployed prematurely before the craft broke apart.
Debris from Virgin Galactic SpaceShip Two sits in a desert field north of Mojave, California.
Sandy Huffaker / Getty Images
National Transportation Safety Board chairman Christopher Hart said Sunday that while the cause of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo crash has not yet been determined, investigators have found that the device to slow the plane down before descent was deployed too soon.
The craft separated normally before descent, but problems occurred when the tail-feathers were deployed too early by the co-pilot. Hart said this happened "without being commanded."
SpaceShipTwo operated by Virgin Galactic crashed on Friday in California's Mojave Desert and killed the co-pilot, 39-year-old Michael Tyner Alsbury. The pilot Peter Siebold managed to eject from the plane and survived with serious injuries.
LINK: Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Explodes In Mid-Air, Killing Pilot, Injuring Another
from BuzzFeed - Breaking http://ift.tt/10hCouR
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