8 crew members dead after B-52 bomber crashes at California’s Edwards Air Force Base

CNN

By Taylor Romine, Davis Winkie, Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN

(CNN) — Eight crew members are dead in a B-52 bomber crash shortly after takeoff from Edwards Air Force Base, northeast of Los Angeles, on Monday morning, the base said.

The B-52 Stratofortress was on a routine test mission that took off at 11:20 a.m. local time at the remote air base, officials said. It is now considered a recovery operation.

“It was tragic and unsurvivable,” Colonel James Hayes said at a news conference.

Emergency crews responded immediately to the crash involving the bomber, which left a towering black plume in its wake, the base said.

Teams are working to notify families about the deaths over the next several hours, Chief Master Sgt. Joshua T. Skarloken said. The crew was a mix of military officials, government civilians and government contractors, Skarloken said.

The B-52 bomber that crashed Monday was performing a test supporting the radar modernization program, Air Force officials said.

The base’s runway was left with a large blackened scar on the sandy runway, as well as some residual smoke, but it was difficult to make out any distinct parts of the wreckage, video from CNN affiliate KCAL shows.

The base has been reopened, though officials are standing down on operations through Tuesday, Hayes said.

Military officials will start investigating what happened, but the exact details won’t be available to the public for around six months, Hayes said.

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 P-3 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, first entering 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 also 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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