The VSS Enterprise crash occurred on October 31, 2014, when the VSS Enterprise, a SpaceShipTwo experimental spaceflight test vehicle operated by Virgin Galactic, suffered a catastrophic in-flight breakup during a test flight and crashed in the Mojave Desert near Cantil, California. Co-pilot Michael Alsbury was killed and pilot Peter Siebold was seriously injured.
VSS Enterprise, the spacecraft involved in the accident, attached to its mothership, VMS Eve
NTSB Go-Team inspects a tail section of VSS Enterprise
NTSB staff talk with Virgin Galactic pilot Todd Ericson
VSS Enterprise was the first SpaceShipTwo (SS2) spaceplane, built by Scaled Composites for Virgin Galactic. As of 2004, it was planned to be the first of five commercial suborbital SS2 spacecraft planned by Virgin Galactic.
It was also the first ship of the Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo class, based on upscaling the design of record-breaking SpaceShipOne.
VSS Enterprise
Enterprise in flight slung under VMS Eve
Enterprise under construction and under wraps in 2008