The experimental SpaceShipTwo came apart in mid-air (centre) just after its engines started firing – the first time the plane had used a new plastic-based propellant. Seconds before, it had detached from the WhiteKnightTwo carrier plane, which lifts the spacecraft to cruising height before it blasts off to heights of around 60 miles above the Earth’s surface. But it had hardly gone any distance at all when an ‘anomaly’ ripped the hull apart and sent the wreckage (bottom right) plunging to the Mojave Desert below. One pilot parachuted out and landed with serious injuries. He is now in hospital. The other died and was reportedly found still strapped into his seat surrounded by wreckage.
Source: Daily Mail