B-52 Stratofortress crashes after take-off at Edwards Air Force Base in California
Christopher Weber And Konstantin Toropin
Updated ,first published
Los Angeles: The B-52 bomber crashed shortly after takeoff from a U.S. Air Force base in Southern California’s Mojave Desert, killing all eight people on board, military officials said.
Aerial images showed almost nothing remained of the plane, which crashed at around 11.20am on Monday (4.20am AEST on Tuesday) during a routine test mission at the base north of Los Angeles.
Black smoke billowed from a large expanse of charred desert near what appeared to be a runway at the base, where emergency vehicles were located nearby.
Col. James Hayes, deputy commander of Edwards Air Force Base, said at a press conference that after reviewing the footage of the accident, it was determined that no one could survive.
“We lost eight great Americans,” Hayes said, adding that authorities were working to notify their families.
“This is a tragedy; it’s something we never planned for, but we’re always prepared for.”
The ship had a mix of military personnel and government and civilian contractors on board, Hayes said.
Hayes said it wasn’t immediately clear what caused the crash and that the investigation could take up to six months to complete, but he shared that he supports the B-52’s “radar modernization program.”
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said the fact that the B-52 crashed so quickly after takeoff before going too high or too far led him to suspect some sort of flight control malfunction, but he said it was too early to say what might have caused the control problem.
He said it is possible that the controls may have been adjusted incorrectly after maintenance, a major engine problem or a piece of equipment under test may have failed.
“I definitely think it’s a controllability issue. I’m not sure if it’s related to an engine failure, a flight control failure or a new tester failure,” said Guzzetti, who investigates crashes for both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Designed and built by Boeing, the Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic aircraft that has long served as the backbone of the U.S. crewed strategic bomber force, according to the military.
The swept-wing aircraft is capable of carrying nuclear and precision-guided conventional munitions, including cluster bombs and gravity bombs, at altitudes of up to approximately 15,000 meters, according to an air force fact sheet.
With a length of 48 meters and a wingspan of more than 56 meters, the Stratofortress weighs over 80,000 kilograms and has a maximum takeoff weight of almost 220,000 kilograms, according to the US Air Force website.
The B-52 entered service in 1955 and was used in conflicts involving the US military from Vietnam to Iran, with a top speed of approximately 1000 km/h (Mach 0.84) and a range of more than 14,000 kilometers.
The information note stated that it can carry out strategic attack, close air support, air interdiction, counter air attack and naval operations in a conventional conflict.
Monday’s incident was the first crash of a B-52 Stratofortress since the same type of bomber crashed on the island of Guam in May 2016, according to the Aircraft Accident Archive Bureau, a Geneva-based organization that collects global aviation accident data. All seven crew members on that plane survived.
It also comes almost a year after the pilot of a regional plane flying over North Dakota made an unexpectedly sharp turn to avoid a possible mid-air collision with a military B-52 bomber on its flight path last July.
Only the B-52’s H model remains in the air force inventory, and is assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota and the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana (both attached to Air Force Global Strike Command) and the Reserve Command’s 307th Bomb Wing at Barksdale, according to the military.
Edwards Air Force Base is home to much of the U.S. Air Force’s aircraft testing and development efforts. The 412th Test Wing, which operates the base, also conducts developmental testing of all air force aircraft, weapons systems, software and components before they are purchased by the service and throughout their lifecycle.
The vast desert base is also where Chuck Yeager broke the speed of sound in 1947.
Although the Air Force has been flying B-52 bombers for more than 70 years, in-flight testing of new equipment can present new challenges.
“Flight testing is always riskier than normal operations, so you have to have specially trained test pilots and have other safety protocols as well,” Guzzetti said.
AP, Reuters
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