The dead pilot is to blame for the crash of SpaceShipTwo: commission findings

The co-pilot of the SpaceShipTwo spaceship, Michael Elsbury, as it turned out , did not pass the required number of trainings that would ensure the correct execution of the sequence of actions when controlling the “tail” of the tail. Almost immediately after the accident, experts made a preliminary conclusion: Elsbury unlocked the plumage system at insufficient speed, between Mach 0.94 and Mach 1.02. Pilots had to unlock at a speed of at least Mach 1.4.

At the same time, the system was turned on without a command from the control center. The wrong sequence of actions led to the explosion of the ship. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which conducted the investigation, the responsibility lies with Scaled Composites, which is owned by Northrop Grumman Corp. The problem is also caused by oversight / lack of control by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Virgin Galactic hired Scaled Composites to create and test the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft, which could carry a team of two pilots and six passengers. The ship was supposed to fly into orbit at an altitude of 100 km above the Earth. The cost of a ticket for tourists in this case was $ 250,000. At the same time, Virgin has already sold more than 700 tickets.

The accident of the ship happened on the 13th second of the test flight. Now it turned out that the pilots were not trained enough before this flight, for a clear understanding of what would happen if the tail system was not released on time. According to the representative of the commission that conducted the investigation, the blame lies with the pilot team, but this is not the main cause of the accident. The main problem is the lack of attention to training.

A new ship will be created with some design changes - for example, the system will not allow unlocking various ship control loops at the wrong time.

“It is important to anticipate errors by creating a system that can correct errors. You must not believe that no one will ever make such a mistake. The only malfunction in the work of the pilot team should have been foreseen, and the control system should have leveled off this error, ”commented Robert Samwalt, a member of the accident investigation commission.

Let me remind you that as a result of the accident, one of the pilots died (the one who made a mistake), the second survived after spending a large amount of time in the hospital.