Posted on 04/22/2022 7:30:34 AM PDT by Alas Babylon!
A B-1B bomber caught fire on the flight line at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, on April 20, the base announced.
The fire started around 10 p.m. during “routine engine maintenance” while the B-1 Lancer was parked, according to a Dyess press release.
Two individuals were injured during the fire and transported to a local medical facility with “non-life-threatening injuries,” according to the release. They were later released.
A Dyess Air Force Base public affairs official told Air Force Magazine that the cause of the fire and whether the aircraft can be salvaged are still being investigated. Information on the injured individuals, including whether they were members of the aircrew or maintainers, is not being released at this time.
A 39-second video posted to the popular unofficial “Air Force amn/nco/snco” Facebook page purports to show the B-1 engulfed in massive flames. An individual can be seen running to and away from the aircraft before an emergency vehicle arrives and the video ends.
The Dyess official said the base is aware of the video and is currently investigating. She could not confirm the video’s veracity.
Air Force Global Strike Command did not immediately respond to an Air Force Magazine query as to whether the B-1 fleet has been grounded in response to the incident, but in a statement, Col. Joseph Kramer, commander of the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess, said, “our B-1 fleet and warfighters remain ready to execute any long-range strike mission.”
“We are so grateful that all members of Team Dyess involved have been treated and are now safely back at home,” Kramer added. “Thank you to our first responders who arrived immediately on scene and executed a real-world emergency response with the same level of professionalism and proficiency as they do in training.”
Operations at Dyess are proceeding as usual, the official told Air Force Magazine, “except for that one area of the flight line.” Clean-up operations are underway.
As of September 2021, only 45 B-1Bs were left in the Air Force fleet. Air Force Global Strike Command retired 17 B-1s last year, however, the rest of the fleet is expected to remain in service until the new B-21 Raider comes online.
https://fb.watch/cyton24yQr/
Must be the Ukrainians.
/s
Nahhhh. Russia, Russia, Russia!
One of those Tesla B1-B’s.
Yup, it was clearly a Russian hypersonic missile.
“One of those Tesla B1-B’s.”
We tried to tell them that going ‘green’ and replacing the Jet Fuel with batteries was doomed to failure.
But they didn’t listen, I guess.
One of the mechanics got upset when a wrong pronoun was used and threw his purse at the Sergeant which missed and caused a spark.
“Oh man, I dropped the roach! Look for it!”
They will bring one out of the boneyard to replace the loss.
If this had happened under Trump, the MSM and Democrats would be saying “Trump has turned the Air Force into a shambles.”
I saw a B-1 at Oshkosh some years ago. That nights air show was cancelled due to weather so they took off, pointed all four nozzles at us and did it's best Saturn V imitation. It was pretty cool.
“...Air Force Global Strike Command....”
I dunno...is that something recent....? we had TAC, SAC, ADC, MATS, and a few others “in my day....”
Geez no fire guard?
Most likely will take 12-18 months to get it fully operational depending on just how “warm” the storage actually is.
...........I believe the USAF does not do a good job of protecting taxpayers money when it comes to “negotiating” a weapons program.
It’s pretty clear that the the big aircraft producers (Lockheed, Boeing, McDonnell-Douglas etc) routinely kick the Air Force Generals asses.
I think a required school led by someone like Elon Musk should be demanded of these Generals! It takes a license to cut my hair why the hell not a CERTIFICATE from the MUSK SCHOOL OF NEGOTIATING for all Generals and Admirals in our services.
Geez no fire guard?
—
They had a CO2 handheld handy
“routine engine maintenance’
Performed by Air Force personnel who were forced to attend “Woke” literature classes instead of B-1 maintenance classes.
The revolving door between defense contractors and the military has long been a concern with regard to conflicts of interest and divided loyalties. How else can one explain the astronomical costs and overruns which are rarely if ever explained or addressed. Can’t leave out the meddlesome congress critters either. Big trough filled with money and a large group of hogs jockeying for position.
Possibly but not likely. When I was in, we had pilots switching weapons systems when such crashes occurred, depending on current staffing and expected retirements.
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