Steve Gorman and Phil Stewart
Updated ,first published
Los Angeles: Eight people aboard a US B-52 Stratofortress bomber that crashed at a military base in California are believed to be dead, the Air Force said.
The plane, designed to carry nuclear and conventional weapons, went down shortly after take-off from Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, the base said.
Aerial footage of the crash scene, about 160 kilometres north of Los Angeles, showed a charred, smouldering patch of the desert floor as an emergency vehicle was seen driving along the perimeter of the site.
There were no large pieces of debris readily visible in the footage.
“An Air Force B-52 Stratofortress carrying eight people on a routine test mission crashed today shortly after take-off at 11.20am (4.20am Tuesday AEST),” the base said in a statement.
“Initial indications are that the crash was not survivable. Emergency response personnel are on scene, and officials are working to account for all personnel.
“The crash is currently under investigation.”
The air force and Pentagon initially declined to comment on Monday’s crash beyond what the base reported online. Base officials could not immediately be reached for additional comment.
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said the way the B-52 crashed so quickly after take-off without getting very high or going far made him suspect some kind of flight-control malfunction – but it was too soon to say what might have caused the control problem.
It’s possible the controls were rigged wrong after maintenance, he said, or a catastrophic engine problem or a failure of a piece of equipment that was being tested.
“I think it was definitely a controllability issue. Now, whether that was tied to an engine failure, a flight-control failure, or some new testing-device failure, I’m not sure,” said Guzzetti, who used to investigate crashes for both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
The Stratofortress, designed and built by Boeing, is a long-range, subsonic aircraft that has long served as the backbone of the US’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 about 15,000 metres, according to an air force fact sheet.
At 48 meters long and with a wingspan of more that 56m, the Stratofortress weighs more than 80,000 kilograms, and has a maximum take-off weight of almost 220,000 kilograms, according to the US Air Force website.
The B-52 entered service in 1955 and has been used in conflicts involving the US military from Vietnam to Iran, with a top speed of about 1000km/h (Mach 0.84) and a range of more than 14,000 kilometres.
In a conventional conflict, it can perform strategic attack, close-air support, air interdiction, offensive counter-air and maritime operations, the fact sheet said.
Monday’s incident marked 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 Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archive, a Geneva-based organisation that collects global aviation accident data. All seven crew members aboard that aircraft survived.
It also comes almost a year after the pilot of a regional airliner flying over North Dakota made an unexpected sharp turn to avoid a possible midair collision with a military B-52 bomber that was in its flight path last July.
Only the H model of the B-52 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 under the Air Force Global Strike Command – and to the Reserve Command’s 307th Bomb Wing at Barksdale, according to the military.
Edwards Air Force Base is home to a large portion of the US Air Force’s aircraft test and development efforts. The 412th Test Wing, which runs the base, also conducts developmental testing of all air force aircraft, weapons systems, software and components before purchase by the service as well as throughout their lifespan.
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, testing out new equipment on a plane can create new challenges.
“A flight test is always riskier than normal operations, so that’s why you have specially trained test pilots, and you should have other safety protocols,” Guzzetti said.
Reuters, AP
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