An Air Force B-52 crashed shortly after takeoff from Edwards Air Force Base northeast of Los Angeles about 11:20 a.m. local time Monday. All eight crew died. At a news conference an Air Force spokesman said that after reviewing video of the crash it was “deemed unrecoverable and unsurvivable.” He did not reveal detail of what’s on the video. B-52s are not stationed permanently at Edwards but are used as test beds, and there is speculation that the plane involve was being used to test a new type of radar. Video from the scene shows little recognizable of the aircraft with smoke rising from the wreckage beside a runway.
Create an account
Welcome! Register for an account
A password will be e-mailed to you.
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
Prayers for crew, families…
When you move as much military hardware as the U.S. has moved in the last few months, cracks, problems and irregularities are bound to show up.
RIP
All 8 crew believed dead.
B-52s have been used at Edwards to assist in testing since I lived in Lancaster in the late ’60s. They were used to drop the early small lifting bodies then.
From what I see in the pic and video, the crash site is at the mid-point of the 15K’ main runway 04-22. Normally, 22 would be used into the prevailing westerly winds. I checked and the winds were southwesterly so that airplane wound up just past the halfway point of the long runway.
As much destruction as I see, the airplane was full of fuel and it’s MY guess that the airplane didn’t get airborne or — if so — barely. I also question where the number “8 crew” came from … the airplane doesn’t normally carry 8 and I’ve never ever heard of 8 people aboard one ?? The official EAFB Facebook announcement does say that 8 were aboard but … unless they were sitting on each other’s laps … I don’t know how that’s possible? But … what do I know … I only spent 27 years there.
https://www.facebook.com/23ABCBakersfield/videos/3716490935155284/
So this was one of the test B-52H at the Base out of the 412th Test Sq. The Commander is saying that the crew was a mix of USAF, USAF civilian and contractor people.
The USAF allows required crewmembers to stand during takeoff and landing, or at least it did when I served as an Instructor Boom Operator in the last decades of the 20th century.
They have actually changed the runway designations to runway 23 & 07. It was runway 22 & 04 when I worked there, in the ’70’s. Spent many hundreds of hours pulling Last Chance end-of-runway inspections at 22 (now 23), with an occasional switch to 04 (now 07) when the wind changed direction.
20 years ago, one of my work buddy’s sons graduated the USAF Academy and his first aircraft assignment was flying the same tail number B-52 his grandfather flew. Even with thorough depot maintenance, these birds are just too old. We are kidding ourselves thinking they are airworthy.
Do you have some information about this crash suggesting it was related to the age of the aircraft?
Well Mark, we know for sure that the accident aircraft was at least 60 years old. We don’t know total airframe hours, but we know it has to be a LOT. I have worked in aerospace manufacturing and repair engineering for over 40 years and also have an A&P license. I have owned and maintained a ‘56 Bonanza for over 30 years. Pressurized aircraft are also affected by pressurization cycles. Metal fatigue is insidious. You can see corrosion, but unless an actual crack has formed you can’t know how much life a metal aircraft structure has left before it begins to fail. One of my favorite CFII’s flew combat missions in Vietnam in B-52’s. Even back then, they were sitting ducks in a serious SAM environment
You’re making an argument from authority, not from evidence. Having aerospace engineering expertise does not make you and expert on the USAF’s fleet of B-52 aircraft. Do you have any idea what kind of maintenance inspections these aircraft are subject to? When I flew on tankers during the 1980s part of my preflight was to check a wing crack sensor system. This program led to a initiative to reskin the wings on the entire KC-135 fleet. This tells me the USAF is well aware of and taking steps to mitigate the risks inherent in flying aging aircraft. I can’t help but assume the (older) B-52 fleet is properly monitored and maintained similar to the KC-135 fleet.
I’m not sure what SAM vulnerability has to do with this accident. Are you suggesting this was friendly fire incident?
Calm Down and take a nap. Bingo is at 5
When you’re running short on arguments, ad hominem attacks are always at hand.
Why not engage the argument instead of making a personal attack? I’m attempting to apply a fundamental standard of logical thought that says extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Steve has suggested this accident can be attributed to airframe age or SAM vulnerability. These claims both seem extraordinary to me. If Steve has evidence to support these claims he should probably share it with the accident investigators. Do you see an error in my logic?
Better picture.
blob:https://avbrief.com/51425df1-367d-4e8f-aa3a-170485032915
The link above gives a 404 error now, but the picture shows the wings, engines and everything forward of the wing, including the cockpit still intact. But it also shows a large gaping hole in the top of the fuselage immediately behind the cockpit.
Mark, those crack sensors you guys were monitoring were connected to networks of strain gauges bonded to surfaces where cracks were known or expected to appear. Some of the military repair depots are very good and some of them are scary. Just like my old body, at some point no amount of maintenance will keep us going!
I’m not arguing that age-related fatigue isn’t a phenomenon. I’m arguing that it’s a known issue, and that we have no evidence whatsoever to suggest it was a factor in this crash.
There were B-52 crashes attributed to airframe fatigue in the 1960s and 1970s (related to high ops tempo during the Viet Nam war) which resulted in structural fatigue monitoring protocols and modifications aimed at airframe life extension. I am unaware of any accidents implicating airframe fatigue in the past 50 years. Do you have data otherwise?
I worked in the Transient Alert shop at Edwards from 1972-1974, occasionally pulling Crash Recovery on evenings & weekends. This would have been the worst type of incident to respond to. Very sad, for the entire base. My heart goes out to the families. The only thing we can say is that they died doing what they loved! It’s a risky business!