| Dear Friends, As you can imagine, the past weeks have been very difficult for us. We have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to gather and mourn with the families of Glen, Eric and Todd. We also continue to avail ourselves to our three friends that were seriously injured. Keith, Gene and Jason are progressing very well in their rehabilitation. They have had family near them at all times, and we at Scaled will do whatever necessary to assist their recuperation. All the team that were affected by the accident can feel confident that they are part of a community of people ready to support them during this time of healing. We have come to recognize that there is an even larger, world-wide "Scaled community." As soon as news of the accident became known to the public, we started to receive emails from people all over the world - offering prayers, kind words of support and even financial gifts. As a result of this generous outpouring, the Scaled Family Support Fund was established to forward such contributions to the families. The first disbursements have been made and were received with heartfelt gratitude. Printouts of the many emails were also shared with the families. You can imagine how much it means to them to know that people from around the globe are thinking of and praying for them and their loved ones. We want to thank all of you who have been so generous with your support. We are also grateful to our customers for their continued loyalty and commitment. We also appreciate the assistance being offered by experts in the industry to help in the investigation into the cause of the explosion. It is extremely important to find these answers to prevent any other tragedies of this nature, and we plan to do our best to share the lessons that we learn with all who will benefit from the knowledge. We will never forget the men we lost. Tribute pages have been established on our website to honor our fallen heroes. We invite you to visit them from time to time as we add photos, stories and anecdotes shared by those closest to Todd, Glen and Eric. We will find greater ways to commemorate them as the SpaceShipTwo program continues to unfold and other space-oriented initiatives are developed. With heartfelt thanks, The Scaled Family 3 August 2007 Dear Friends, We would like to thank you again for your support during this time of healing. We are grateful to all who continue to keep us in their thoughts and prayers. The three injured in the accident on July 26 remain in area hospitals and are progressing well in their individual treatments. We at Scaled Composites have had the blessing of spending time over the past week with the families of the friends we lost. On Tuesday, July 31, there was a memorial in the Scaled facility. In attendance were members of the families of Eric Blackwell and Todd Ivens, local firefighters and paramedics, and the Scaled community. The Mays have gathered in Tennessee for the burial of Glen; they were there with us in spirit. Memorial services have been arranged for all three fallen heroes. Glen May will be buried August 3, 2007, in Tennessee. Many of his Scaled friends have traveled there to be with the family. Both Todd Ivens and Eric Blackwell will be buried on August 11, 2007. Todd's services will be in Oregon; Eric's are being held in California. We will never forget our fallen heroes. Wishing to pay tribute to them, webpages are being created to share memories of our friends. We will update these pages as more contribute stories and pictures. Further honors will follow as the legacy of SpaceShipTwo that they helped establish continues to take shape. Now, when we look up, it won't be simply towards the black sky of space, but towards the dreams our friends held for the future. With true appreciation, The Scaled Family
29 July 2007 Dear Friends, On Thursday, July 26, 2007, Scaled suffered a tragic accident. In a routine test of rocket motor components, an unexplained explosion occurred that took the life of three of our family and injured many others. We are working closely with government investigators to determine the cause of this accident. In addition, we are engaging several outside experts to help us ensure that we precisely understand what went wrong and how we might prevent a future occurrence. The safety and well-being of our employees is our highest priority and we intend to share the appropriate lessons learned from our investigation with the industry so others may learn from our experience. Words cannot express the appreciation we feel for all of you who have extended your prayers and good wishes to us during this time of hardship. The outpouring of comfort and support has done much to bring some healing. As you know, we lost three of our own; three more were critically or seriously injured and are in various stages of recovery in local hospitals; and several others retained less serious physical injuries but face the emotional healing that follows tragedy. Memorial services are scheduled for the families and friends of the deceased. Todd Ivens' parents have arrived in California and will be having a memorial for their son with his Scaled family, Tuesday, July 31, at Noon. This will be followed by a burial service with his family in Oregon in the days ahead. The funeral for Glen May is Friday, August 3, 2007, in Collierville, TN. The family would love to hear from anyone who has special memories of Glen; please email them to aprildmay@aol.com. They will be sharing many stories with all those gathered in Glen's memory. Eric Blackwell's services will be August 11, 2007, in Ridgecrest, CA. There will be a gathering afterwards for those close to Eric to share their memories. The three who were critically or seriously injured in the accident remain hospitalized. Gene Gisin and Keith Fritsinger remain in critical condition, but are progressing in their rehabilitation. Each day shows improvement, and our hope for a complete recovery becomes more and more visible. Keith Fritsinger will be taken later Tuesday afternoon to a burn unit in Southern California to continue his recovery. Jason Kramb is making great progress. He is no longer listed as serious, and he has been in good spirits and surrounded by many friends and loving family. To continue his recuperation, he has been transferred to a burn unit in Southern California. Although he has recovered to a great extent, he still has some weeks to go in his rehabilitation. All three of the hospitalized are surrounded by loving family, who are also in need of our strength and support. Many of you have extended your desire to help them in their time of need. Letters and cards of sympathy can be sent care of Scaled at the address below.
As many can understand, this accident has left an emotional wound in our Scaled family. We ask for your continued prayers and good wishes that all those hurting can find strength and solace in the days ahead. With grateful hearts, The Scaled Composites Family |