Rocket plane’s tail activated prematurely in fatal crash

NTSB’s Hart told a news conference on Sunday investigators had determined that the spacecraft’s ‘feathering’ tail system, designed to help slow its descent into the atmosphere from space, was supposed to have been released for deployment as the craft was traveling about 1.4 times the speed of sound.

Instead, the feather began rotating when the rocket-powered vehicle was traveling at Mach 1, the speed of sound.

Hart said the feathering tail system, which folds the vehicle in half aerodynamically to create more atmospheric drag, appeared from video footage to have been unlocked early by the co-pilot. About two seconds later, the space plane’s tail section began to rotate.

“I’m not stating that this is the cause of the mishap. We have months and months of investigation to determine what the cause was,” Hart said.

Asked if pilot error was a possible factor, Hart said: “We are looking at all of these issues to determine what was the root cause of this mishap … We are looking at a number of possibilities, including that possibility.”

SpaceShipTwo’s propellant tanks and engine were recovered intact, indicating there was no explosion. “

Source:
Reuters.com