The pilot of the Virgin Galactic, Peter Siebold, grew up and learned to fly in Gig Harbor.
“He just lives for flying and has done so since early childhood,” said Siebold‘s father, Klaus, who still lives in Gig Harbor. “He grew up here and he started flying here at the local airport, in an airplane that’s still at that flight school.”
Peter Siebold, 43, was flying SpaceShipTwo, along with co-pilot Michael Alsbury, who died in the crash Oct. 31 in California’s Mojave Desert. Siebold was able to deploy his parachute after the plane disintegrated.
The Tacoma News Tribune interviewed Peter Siebold and his father about the experience: Survivor of Virgin Galactic crash grew up in Gig Harbor, ‘lives for flying’