Model jetliner crashes into desert

WOOMERA, Australia -- A model of an experimental jet crashed and exploded in the Australian desert Sunday in a disastrous first test for a Japanese project to develop the next generation supersonic passenger plane.

The 36-foot model of the needle-nosed jet was mounted on a booster rocket. But moments after launch, the plane separated from the rocket and crashed to the ground, witnesses said.

The rocket climbed to about 330 feet, then began spiraling erratically through the air until it slammed into the ground and exploded, the witnesses at the Woomera rocket testing range in central Australia said.

Nobody was injured in the crash. The model plane was unmanned.

The director of the team developing the model plane, Kimio Sakata, said they were not sure why the plane separated from the rocket. "We have to redesign, remanufacture some of the components of the equipment. After that we would like to have another launch," Sakata said.

The $200 million project, funded by the Japanese government, aims to develop the National Experimental Supersonic Transport, or NEXST, a plane that would fly at twice the speed of sound but with the supersonic boom reduced to the rumble of a Boeing 747. It would fly twice the distance of the Concorde and seat three times the passengers.

In Sunday's test, the model was to have ridden the booster rocket to a height of 12.5 miles at a speed of 1,522 mph. After being released from the booster, the model was to glide to earth in a 14-minute flight to test its automatic flight systems.

Sakata said his team still hoped to complete a further three tests, planned for later this year, of the model's aerodynamics, which were developed through computer simulations. Tests under powered flight have been set to begin in late 2005.

There was no immediate comment from Boeing Co., which has said it could cooperate with the Japanese project if tests were successful. Boeing is developing its own "Sonic Cruiser" designed to fly at just under the speed of sound.