The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed Monday night that the copilot who died in the fatal crash of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo prematurely unlocked the spacecraft’s aerodynamic controls.
After some confusion, acting chairman Christopher Hart clarified that 39-year-old Michael Alsbury, who died in Friday’s crash, was in the right seat. He flipped a switch to unlock a lever that may have caused the spacecraft’s tail to rise and create drag — an action known as “feathering.”
That action occurred moments before SpaceShipTwo “disintegrated,” according to the NTSB.
The rocket ship, which was designed to shoot wealthy tourists into space, broke apart over the Mojave Desert during a test flight Friday morning, killing Alsbury and seriously injuring test pilot Peter Siebold.
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