Surviving SpaceShipTwo Pilot Has Davis Roots
DAVIS (CBS13) – John Felts still can't believe his childhood best friend fell through the air from 45,000 feet and survived.
"We were all very afraid and expecting the worst," Felts said.
Davis native Peter Siebold, 43, is the sole survivor of a fiery spaceship crash over the Mojave Desert Friday.
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo blew apart in midair during a test flight, killing 39-year-old pilot Michael Alsbury.
Siebold managed to parachute to safety and is recovering in the hospital.
"Honestly, it's not that surprising, knowing Peter. If anybody could do it, he could," Felts said. "He's a pretty amazing person, very smart, very resilient. And I wouldn't be surprised to see him back up in a couple years."
Felts says he and Siebold both graduated from Davis High School in 1990. He says Siebold has always loved to fly and got his pilot license even before he started driving.
"Peter is very quiet, very thoughtful – borderline genius. He was always the smartest kid in our group," Felts said.
Felts says Siebold is one of the country's top-notch engineers and pilots.
"I've had it in the back of my mind ever since he started doing this, that something may happen someday. So the fact that he survived it is incredible," Felts said. "[It] doesn't sound like something someone should survive."
A forever friendship that Felts is grateful can continue after his longtime pal survived the impossible...
"It's a horrible tragedy, but thank goodness he lived. And of course all of our prayers are out there for his family and the family of Michael as well," Felts said.
Felts says Seibold and the man that died in the crash were not just co-pilots, they were also very close friends.
