Federal aviation crash investigators are expected to open a probe into the cause of the crash of Virgin Galactic's tourism spaceship, which claimed the life of one pilot and badly injured the other.
Virgin Group President Richard Branson is also due at the airport Saturday, the British billionaire and explorer who had become the public face of space venture, according to USA Today.
He sent out a tweet to his staff saying that he was on his way.
Thoughts with all @virgingalactic & Scaled, thanks for all your messages of support. I'm flying to Mojave immediately to be with the team.
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) October 31, 2014
The accident occurred on Friday during a test flight over the Mojave Desert, about 25 miles north of the Mojave Air and Spaceport where Virgin and its partner, Scaled Composites, base their operations, according to USA Today.
A photographer confirmed to the Associated Press that SpaceShip blew up shortly after its engine fired when it was dropped from the WhiteKnightTwo aircraft that carried it to 45,000 feet, according the AP.
Two other witnesses said there was no explosion. Marlena Rowley of Mojave said she was watching the test next to her husband and all looked normal, according to USA Today. She says she saw two pieces, which is normal when the spaceship separates from the mothership. Her husband, watching through binoculars, turned to her and said, "that doesn't look good."
Rowley wasn't aware there was an accident until she heard emergency vehicle sirens.
The airport director said he didn't see anything unusual during the test.
"I will tell you from my eyes and my ears that I detected nothing that appeared abnormal," Stuart Witt told reporters, according to USA Today. "If there was a huge explosion, it didn't occur. I didn't see it,"
The pilot ejected and was taken to a local hospital, but the co-pilot suffered fatal injuries, the Kern County Sheriff's Office reported. Their identities were not immediately released.
"(The craft) suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss of the vehicle," said Virgin Galactic in a press statement. "The malfunction, which occurred about two minutes after ship was released, was not immediately identified."
Though the test was the fourth powered flight for the rocket-glider, it was the first using a new fuel. SpaceShipTwo had last flown under its own power back in January.
The weather was clear, and winds were light at time of the accident, according to AccuWeather meteorologists. The ship separated from the mothership at 10:10 a.m.
"Space is hard, and today is a tough day," Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides told reporters. "We are going to be supporting the investigation to figure out what happened today and we're going to get through it."
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