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3 DIE IN MOJAVE EXPLOSION
Incident at private space facility leaves 3 dead, 3 in critical condition
| Thursday, Jul 26 2007 11:35 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Jul 27 2007 7:17 AM
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Aerospace designer Burt Rutan talks as Kern County fire chief Michael Cody looks on during a news conference near the site of an explosion that killed two people and critically injured four others Thursday at Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave. The blast at a facility belonging to Scaled Composites LLC also left some toxic material, said Kern County fire Capt. Doug Johnston.
Aerospace designer Burt Rutan talks during a news conference near the site of an explosion that killed two people and critically injured four others Thursday at Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave. The blast at a Scaled Composites LLC facility also left some toxic material, said Kern County Fire Capt. Doug Johnston.
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Three people died and three more were seriously hurt in an explosion during a flowing test of nitrous oxide for SpaceShipTwo at the Mojave Air & Space Port on Thursday.
The victims were employees of Scaled Composites, the company that is working on the aircraft and helped build SpaceShipOne. Killed were Eric Blackwell, 38, of Randsburg, Charles May, 45, of Mojave and Todd Ivens, 33, of Tehachapi, according to the Kern County Coroner’s office.
“We don’t know why — why it exploded,” said Burt Rutan, director of Scaled Composites, as he struggled to talk during a news conference. “We just don’t know.”
About 10 employees were conducting a routine and monthly flowing test of nitrous oxide — also known as laughing gas — in an open area about 2:30 p.m., Rutan said. The material was under pressure.
“Unlike rocket fuel, this material is not dangerous,” Rutan said.
Rutan said the company does not move people away from this type of test like a rocket test because a propellant flowing “is believed to be completely safe.”
The test of nitrous oxide was done several times by Scaled Composites for SpaceShipOne and the new aircraft, Rutan said.
He would not discuss if sabotage could have been involved.
Two people died at the explosion site. Ivens died in intensive care at Kern Medical Center at 6:20 p.m, according to the coroner. He died of severe traumatic injuries and shrapnel-type wounds, according to a KMC supervising nurse.
Two of the three victims remaining alive were out of surgery and in critical condition in intensive care, the nurse said. The third was still the operating room and in serious condition.
The safety of the chemical is debated.
OSHA says that nitrous oxide can form an explosive when mixture with air.
Mojave-based Interorbital Systems, a small entrepreneurial firm developing a rocket system for orbital space tourism, does not use nitrous oxide in its propellant because it’s dangerous, said Randa Milliron, the chief executive and co-founder.
“It’s too squirrely,” she said. “At room temperature, the vapor pressure is something like 950 PSI (pounds per square inch).”
The rocket test site where the explosion occurred is about a mile from the runway, Milliron said, away from buildings and airplanes.
“It’s isolated for a reason,” she said. “Just this sort of reason.”
At about 2:30 p.m., Stuart Witt, general manager for the airport, was signing paychecks when he heard a loud explosion from his office.
“It didn’t sound like a sonic boom to me,” he told his assistant.
A security chief turned to the manager and said, “Stu, tower called. We got an explosion.”
The Kern County Fire Department was called to the explosion at 2:34 p.m., said Tony Diffenbaugh, spokesman for the Kern County Fire Department.
The explosion happened during the test caused debris to scatter quite a distance, said Deputy Chief Michael Cody with the Kern County Fire Department.
The blast caused damage to a nearby service truck hauling nitrous oxide, Rutan said.
Diffenbaugh said the damage was extensive and workers at Scaled Composites were “pretty shook up.”
Hazmat crews arrived and were scanning the area for hazardous materials, Cody said. The airport was closed and officials do not know when it will reopen.
Four people in critical condition were taken to Kern Medical Center, said Mark Corum, director of public and media relations for Hall Ambulance. Paramedic units were on scene and Hall Air responded.
The people injured in the explosion have family members in Bakersfield, Rutan said.
As to what this explosion means to the construction of SpaceShip-Two, Rutan would not say.
“This is not an unveiled program,” he said. “We have for a year and half have not been answering questions at all about the program. I suddenly don’t have a change for that.”
Rutan said this is the first time an accident like this has happened since Scaled Composites began working at the airport in 1974.
The type of test involved in the explosion is something “we do every day” at the airport, said airport general manager Witt. About a dozen companies at the airport develop materials for rockets.
He said people would not “enjoy flying” without the companies’ tests.
Thursday’s blast came less than eight weeks after a powerful explosion rocked the airport on June 3.
In that incident, a bunker used by Alpha Explosives to store commercial-grade explosives blew up, scattering hazardous materials and causing a fire in an old airliner. No one was injured in that incident. Diffenbaugh said Thursday’s explosion occurred about a quarter-mile away from the site of the June 3 explosion.
About 300 employees of the company have been consoling each other and struggling to understand the tragedy, Rutan said.
“I’m in the process where I have to hug my people,” he said.
Staff writers Steven Mayer, James Burger and Chris George contributed to this report.