Posted on 06/15/2026 5:04:00 PM PDT by Red Badger
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.
The B-52 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 includes 76 of the aircraft. 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at lite.cnn.com ...
DEI Pilot or mechanic quit likely.
In addition, the calculations for flight time for military and civilians are different. Military flight time is usually from takeoff to landing while civilians add taxi and ground movement.
I'm sure they have all been inspected and upgraded, but there are many things that can go wrong in a complex machine of any kind.
In the case of an airplane there is little room for error.
Those were eight brave souls who didn’t have to die except TRUMP wanted a demonstration of readiness for his failed policies in the Middle East! < /major sarc >
I was an Army OH-58 crew chief. Left seat. We did things no other branches did, let alone civilians. When I got my PPL in a 152, it was, “Is this it?”
You might not have noticed but making war is dangerous. So is training to go to war because it requires you do the same dangerous things as when fighting a war, albeit with greater margins of safety.
The news said that it was under going testing.
Some of that is true, but civilian pilots still fly many, many, more hours in a career.
The missions are not the same, but civilian pilots fly more consistently, more often, and have longer careers in the flight deck. I have 40+ years in the airline and trained both seasoned and new pilots at the airline. Currency is a key factor in how airline pilots have a superior safety record. We just do the job more.
Military pilots in general are motivated differently - they don’t get paid more for carrier progression like airline pilots do, so the incentive to fly “bigger” and “more often” isn’t there as much. I loved trining military pilots when they came to the airline because they quickly grasped that they could make a lot more money if they wanted to fly more.
Getting new radar equipment too (engines also being upgraded)...2 Boeing engineers onboard for a test flight:
https://x.com/RyanRuggiero/status/2066686940645060689?s=20
Dang 😫 😢
🛐🛐🙏🙏✝️✝️
Military aviation operates much closer to the edge of the envelope than commercial aviation.
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