Posted on 06/15/2026 12:25:55 PM PDT by BenLurkin
A massive plume of black smoke appeared in the skies above Edwards Air Force Base in Kern County Monday after an $85 million B-52 Stratofortress crashed.
Images on X showed the cloud of smoke as users questioned what had happened.
“Did something just happen at Edwards Air Force Base? Currently seeing a large column coming from the base, cams are aligned with one of the runways,” one user wrote.
“A United States Air Force B-52 Stratofortress crashed shortly after takeoff on the Edwards airfield at 11:20 a.m. Emergency crews immediately responded to the scene and the situation is ongoing. More information will be provided as it becomes available,” an X account for Edwards posted just after noon.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Not good. Not good at all
Shortly after take the full crew was aboard along with 10s of thousands of pounds of fuel.
Worst case scenario.
..it may be too early but no word about the crew...? hope they were able to eject okay.....terrible situation....
That looks just to the side of the runway as if it crashed as soon as it came out of ground effect.
AVIATION PING.................😪
I’m sure whatever damage it’ll buff right out.
Shortly after takeoff puts ejection safety envelope for nav and bomb nav crew members right at the edge, as well as any IP.
Heavy duty prayers needed for the crew on this incident.
I’m not seeing any trace of the aircraft.
Looks like a total inferno.
Prayers Up
Definitely not good. 😞
Heartless and rude.
Prayers for the crew. Not looking good for them.
Edwards AFB B-52’s- 412th Test Wing, 419th Flight Test Squadron.
This sucks ...
There is (was?) one or two older model B52s stationed at Edwards, used for various flight test purposes.
man...dont have many of those left. Hope the crew is ok, geez.
I wonder if this aircraft was being used for testing the engine upgrade for the H models to the Rolls-Royce turbofan engines.
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