LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Peter Siebold, the surviving pilot of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, was thrown from the rocket-powered vehicle when it broke apart and unbuckled from his seat before his parachute deployed automatically, U.S. officials said in a statement on Wednesday.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the Oct. 31 crash in Southern California, also found Siebold was unaware that his co-pilot had unlocked the craft's moveable tail section, which appears to have set off a chain of events that led to ship's destruction.
Mike Alsbury, the co-pilot, was killed in the crash.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Susan Heavey)
Relacionados
- Una nueva nave devuelve la esperanza tras el accidente de Virgin Galactic
- New spaceship restoring hope after Virgin Galactic crash
- New spaceship restoring hope after Virgin Galactic crash
- Pilot mystery at heart of Virgin Galactic spaceship crash probe
- Un fallo del copiloto podría haber propiciado que el Virgin Galactic se estrellase