Reports: Pilot killed in spaceship crash ID'd

The pilot killed Friday when a Virgin Galactic spaceship exploded and broke apart midflight was identified Saturday as Michael Alsbury, the Los Angeles Times and Daily Mail reported.

Alsbury was an experienced flyer who co-piloted the same craft when it first broke the sound barrier last year. He worked for Scaled Composites — which built and operates SpaceShipTwo — for more than a decade, according to his biography.

He held the titles of project engineer and test pilot, and was also sitting in the co-pilot's seat when the craft was first dropped in 2010 from its carrier aircraft several miles above the Earth for an unpowered glide test. According to test logs, Alsbury flew primarily as the craft's co-pilot, logging at least seven trips from 2010 to early 2014.

His identity was confirmed to the Los Angeles Times by the Kern County (Calif.) Coroner's Office. The Daily Mail reported that Alsbury was a married father of two. Records show he lived in Tehachapi, Calif., near the Mojave Air and Space Port, where the test flights were conducted.

Scaled Composites has multiple test pilots who trade off duties. Alsbury has also been co-pilot on WhiteKnightTwo, which carried the separate spaceship high above the ground before it was dropped to begin rocket-powered flight.

Alsbury's official bio says he held a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and was a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and Society of Flight Test Engineers. The undated bio said he had 15 years and more than 1800 hours of flight experience, and held his single and multiengine instrument commercial, glider commercial, and single and multiengine instrument flight instructor certificates.

Authorities have not yet released the name of the second pilot, who survived the crash, nor have they said whether Alsbury or the other man was commanding the craft when it exploded.

Virgin Galactic last year hired former astronaut Frederick Sturcklow and a longtime American fighter and test pilot Michael Masucci to beef up its corps of pilots as it completed testing and prepared for commercial spaceflights.