The first sign there was a problem Friday with Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo came at about 45,000 feet, just two minutes after the spaceplane separated from the jet-powered aircraft that carried it aloft, officials said.

It wasn't something overt with SpaceShipTwo, said Stuart Witt, the chief executive of Mojave Air & Space Port, where SpaceShipTwo was launched and monitored.

It was what didn't happen next during the test flight, he said. Witt did not offer details, but appeared to indicate the spaceplane did not follow its previous test-flight patterns.

Nothing seemed abnormal during the takeoff or flight prior to the spaceplane's failure, he said

"...If there was a huge explosion, I didn't see it," Witt said. This much is known, according to Witt and others: One pilot is dead and another has been hospitalized with serious injuries.

The injured pilot was airlifted to Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, California, authorities said.

There have been reports that the pilots managed to bail out, using parachutes. But neither Virgin Galactic or its partner conducting the test flight, Scaled Composites, have confirmed the accounts. 2 Replies | 347 Views