Richard Branson's flight to space went off-course, deviated from path; under investigation

The flight carrying Richard Branson to the edge of space could have ended up landing on the desert plain after warning lights flashed on the pilot's console indicating that the flight path was too shallow and the nose of the ship was insufficiently vertical. The US Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a deviation of the flight of the Virgin Galactic rocket plane that launched with Branson and four others on July 11. The report quoting Dave Mackay, a former Virgin Atlantic pilot and veteran of the UK’s Royal Air Force, and Mike Masucci, a retired Air Force pilot from a previous meeting saying that a "yellow light should scare the shit out of you, because when it turns red it’s gonna be too late”; Masucci was less concerned about the yellow light but said, “Red should scare the crap out of you.” The company had announced earlier that it will ground its fleet beginning October for eight months. Our pilots responded appropriately to these changing flight conditions exactly as they have been trained and in strict accordance with our established procedures.” Future plans The company had announced earlier that it will ground its fleet beginning October for eight months to work on the mothership that carries its space plane aloft, and then put a new space ship through a rigorous flight-test program. Branson, one of six Virgin Galactic employees who took part in the flight, soaring more than 50 miles above the New Mexico desert, in July touted the mission as a precursor to a new era of space tourism and said the company he founded in 2004 was poised to begin commercial operations next year.