The SpaceShipTwo spacecraft crash killed the pilot at fault: the commission's findings

The co-pilot spaceship SpaceShipTwo Michael Elsberi, как turned , it has not passed the required number of training that would ensure the correct execution of the sequence of actions to manage "feathered" tail. Almost immediately after the accident, the experts made a preliminary conclusion: Elsberi unlock system "tail" at the lack of speed between Mach 0, 94 and Mach 1, 02 pilots were to perform unlocking at a speed of 1, 4 Mach.

The system has been incorporated without a command from the control center. Wrong sequence of actions and led to the explosion of the ship. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), to conduct investigations, the responsibility lies with the company Scaled Composites, which is owned by Northrop Grumman Corp. The problem is caused by an oversight and / insufficient supervision by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Virgin Galactic has hired a company Scaled Composites to build and test the spacecraft SpaceShipTwo, 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 ticket price for tourists in this case $ 250,000 was accounted for. At the same time Virgin has already sold more than 700 tickets.

vehicle accident occurred 13 seconds of the flight test. Now it turned out that before this flight the pilots trained enough for a clear understanding of what will happen if the system does not unlock the tail time. According to the Commission, to conduct investigations, the fault lies with the team of pilots, but it is - not the main cause of the accident. The main problem - lack of attention to the training sessions.

The new ship will be created with some changes in design - for example, the system will unlock different circuits control the ship at the wrong time.

"It is important - to anticipate mistakes, creating a system that can correct errors. You do not have to believe that no one will ever make such a mistake. The only failure of the command pilot had to be provided, and the control system was to neutralize this error, "- commented Robert Samvalt, a member of the commission investigating the accident.

Let me remind you that as a result of the accident one of the pilots was killed (the one who made a mistake), the second survived, spending a lot of time in the hospital.

Source: geektimes.ru/post/259496/