- Date
- October 31, 2014, 10:07 local (17:07 UTC)
- Place
- Koehn Dry Lake, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Other
- Aircraft
- N339SSScaled Composites 339
- Defining event
- Other: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 5, 2015
- Report
- Board-adopted at Board Meeting
- Investigation class
- Class 1
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- Parties
- Scaled Composites, Virgin Galactic, Butler Parchute Systems, FAA AVP-100
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- Case key
- 90344
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Scaled Composites' failure to consider and protect against the possibility that a single human error could result in a catastrophic hazard to the SpaceShipTwo vehicle. This failure set the stage for the copilot's premature unlocking of the feather system as a result of time pressure and vibration and loads that he had not recently experienced, which led to uncommanded feather extension and the subsequent aerodynamic overload and in-flight breakup of the vehicle.
Findings · 7
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
NTSB investigators traveled in support of this investigation and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aerospace accident report. The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/AccidentReports.aspx. The Aerospace Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-15/02. On October 31, 2014, at 1007:32 Pacific daylight time, the SpaceShipTwo (SS2) reusable suborbital rocket, N339SS, operated by Scaled Composites LLC (Scaled), broke up into multiple pieces during a rocket-powered test flight and impacted terrain over a 5-mile area near Koehn Dry Lake, California. The pilot received serious injuries, and the copilot received fatal injuries. SS2 was destroyed, and no one on the ground was injured as a result of the falling debris. SS2 had been released from its launch vehicle, WhiteKnightTwo (WK2), N348MS, about 13 seconds before the structural breakup. Scaled was operating SS2 under an experimental permit issued by the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) according to the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 437.
Factual narrative
NTSB investigators traveled in support of this investigation and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aerospace accident report. The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/AccidentReports.aspx. The Aerospace Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-15/02. On October 31, 2014, at 1007:32 Pacific daylight time, the SpaceShipTwo (SS2) reusable suborbital rocket, N339SS, operated by Scaled Composites LLC (Scaled), broke up into multiple pieces during a rocket-powered test flight and impacted terrain over a 5-mile area near Koehn Dry Lake, California. The pilot received serious injuries, and the copilot received fatal injuries. SS2 was destroyed, and no one on the ground was injured as a result of the falling debris. SS2 had been released from its launch vehicle, WhiteKnightTwo (WK2), N348MS, about 13 seconds before the structural breakup. Scaled was operating SS2 under an experimental permit issued by the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) according to the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 437.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N339SS
- Reported as
- Scaled Composites 339
- Category
- Rocket
- Serial number
- 01
- Built
- 2010
- Airframe hours
- 6.07
- Engine
- Scaled Composites RM2-20A001, 60,000 lbs thrust, hybrid rocket
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Part 437
- Operator
- Scaled Composites LLC
- Registered owner
- Scaled Composites LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · October 1, 2014
- Departed
- MHV · Mojave, CA
- Destination
- MHV · Mojave, CA
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Equipment
- Video recording device, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 43
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Private, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,980 total · 48 in this make and model · 2,550 as pilot in command · 44 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Co-pilot
- Age
- 39
- Injuries
- Fatal
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial, Flight instructor, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,154 total · 30 in this make and model · 1,964 as pilot in command · 42 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
Docket · 103
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 28, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 231 MB in all.