Pilot ‘Thrown’ From SpaceShipTwo

The pilot of the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo, which crashed in California last month, says he was thrown from the ship when it broke up, and his parachute automatically deployed. Peter Siebold also told National Transportation Safety Board investigators that he was unaware his co-pilot (who died in the crash) had prematurely unlocked a lever to move the aircraft into a position used while re-entering the atmosphere. That “feathering” would’ve put tremendous strain on the airframe, likely breaking up the craft in mid-flight. The NTSB says Siebold’s description is consistent with other data from the investigation.