8 crew members killed when a B-52 bomber crashes at California’s Edwards Air Force Base
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By Taylor Romine, Davis Winkie, Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN
(CNN) — A mammoth military plane on a routine test mission crashed shortly after takeoff Monday in Southern California, killing all eight crew members on board and leaving charred wreckage so mangled it was barely recognizable.
The crash of the B-52 bomber sent a towering black plume of smoke into the sky at Edwards Air Force Base, about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles, and left a colossal, blackened scar on the runway and the desert terrain beside it.
“It was tragic and unsurvivable,” Air Force Col. James Hayes said at a news conference.
The calamity is the deadliest crash involving a B-52 bomber since 1982. In that incident, nine crew members died in test training at the Mather Air Force Base near Sacramento, California, The Associated Press reported at the time.
The B-52 Stratofortress in Monday’s crash took off at 11:20 a.m. local time to perform a test supporting a radar modernization program, Air Force officials said. The crew was a mix of military servicemembers, government-employed civilians and government contractors, Hayes said.
Teams were working to notify families about the deaths, Chief Master Sgt. Joshua T. Skarloken said.
Boeing, the manufacturer of the plane, said two of its employees were on Monday’s flight. “We are in contact with their families and are offering support,” Boeing said in a release.
Secretary of the Air Force Troy E. Meink and House Speaker Mike Johnson both shared their condolences on social media about the lives lost. California Gov. Gavin Newsom also offered his sympathies to “the entire Edwards Air Force Base community” and thanked first responders.
The base’s runway was left with a large blackened scar and residual smoke, but it was difficult to make out any distinct parts of the wreckage, video from CNN affiliate KCAL/KCBS shows.
The base has been reopened, though officials are standing down on operations through Tuesday, Hayes said.
Military officials will investigate what happened, but the exact details won’t be available to the public for about six months, Hayes said.
A base known for test flights
Edwards Air Force Base is historically used as a testing site – not just for Air Force planes, but for other aircraft, helicopters, drones and even space shuttles because of its long runways.
“If it flies, it’s tested at Edwards Air Force Base,” said Richard Kolko, a retired US Navy commander and pilot. “It’s got some of the best test pilots and best engineers out there.”
Test flights typically go up with some of the most seasoned pilots and air crew available, and – depending on what is being tested – civilian engineers or manufacture personnel as well, Kolko said. The base also has a robust emergency response team for any accidents, he added.
Now, officials will be tasked with securing the crash site, gathering any potential remains and evidence, pulling maintenance records and reviewing everything to determine what they can about the crash, Kolko said.
The B-52 is a stalwart in military operations
The B-52, the plane at the center of Monday’s crash, is one of the Air Force’s oldest aircraft and first entered service in 1955. The long-range heavy bomber, which typically carries a crew of five, can carry as much as 70,000 pounds of bombs and other munitions.
The currently flown version, the B-52H, still plays a major role in the Air Force’s arsenal, which included 76 of the aircraft before the crash. It was used in bombing missions during the current conflict between the US and Iran. The B-52H can carry nuclear bombs and nuclear-armed cruise missiles.
Before Monday’s crash, the most recent fatal accident involving the aircraft was in 2008, when six Air Force personnel were killed after their B-52 crashed into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Guam while preparing for a parade flyover.
The Boeing-made bomber has not been in production since 1962, though several life-extension initiatives have modernized the airframe and kept it flying. The Air Force recently launched another B-52 upgrade initiative centered around designing new engines with a total expected price tag of $48.6 billion, according to Defense News.
Because the aircraft is no longer in production, any replacements must be sourced from dismantled airframes stored at the so-called “Boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, as was done after a non-fatal 2016 crash that destroyed a B-52H in Guam.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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CNN’s Michael Callahan and Hanna Park contributed to this report.
