Space pilot: I gave thumbs up to say ‘I’m OK’ as I fell 50,000ft
THE pilot who miraculously survived the Virgin spaceship disaster has revealed how he was blasted from the wreckage of the rocket ship and plummeted nearly 16km back to Earth.
Having suffered serious injuries, Peter Siebold only regained consciousness halfway into his fall – but was composed enough to give a thumbs-up to colleagues in a passing aircraft to show he was alive.
The experienced test pilot spoke for the first time about the tragedy that killed his close friend, co-pilot Mike Alsbury, revealing he blacked out as the craft broke up around him at 50,000ft but was saved by his emergency parachute.
Siebold, 43, a married father of two, said: ‘I can’t remember anything about what happened but I must have come to during the fall. I remember waving to the chase plane and giving them the thumbs-up to tell them I was okay. I know it’s a miracle I survived.’
Siebold returned home to his family on Monday, three days after Virgin’s SpaceShipTwo tore apart in California’s Mojave Desert.
The pilot’s father, Dr Klaus Siebold, said his son was ‘in good spirits’ despite suffering serious injuries, including a shattered shoulder.
Both pilots were strapped into standard seats and wearing thin flight suits and emergency parachutes when SpaceShipTwo was released from its mothership WhiteKnightTwo shortly after 10am on October 31.
The craft’s rocket was ignited at around 50,000ft – nearly 10 miles above sea level. The pilots, wearing oxygen masks, were pinned against their seats by gravitational forces as the craft accelerated at more than 1,400kph.
Then disaster occurred. Preliminary investigations suggest the ship’s folding wings deployed early, causing the ship to break up due to the tremendous turbulence around the craft.
Alsbury was trapped in the cockpit but Siebold was thrown clear of the wreckage or somehow managed to unbuckle his seatbelt. He then started plunging towards Earth at speeds topping 200kph. Witnesses reported seeing Siebold descending with part of his seat base attached. It is likely his oxygen mask, attached to a portable tank, remained in place.