B-2 Bomber Crash in Guam

KUAM News ^

[AzSteven]

News just coming out (at least I could not find another report here)

http://www.kuam.com/news/26596.aspx

[mad_as_he$$]

That number is not accurate.

[Secret Agent Man]

Frick, the loss of just one b-2 is huge. Glad the pilots are okay, but FRICK!

[elcid1970]

Thank G-d the crews are safe as far as we know.

Now, just imagine what this means in terms of not only national treasure but national will:

A Commander in Chief and Congress committed to the defense of this Nation will move quickly to replace this expensive but not irreplaceable combat asset.

And those who don’t think that America is unique and uniquely defensible, may just end up in control of the levers of power of this Nation and

That’s all I can think to say about the potentially unthinkable.

[seoul62]

Was the aircraft completely destroyed? What of the danger if it falls into enemy hands? Does this aircraft have a self or automated destruct system?/Just Asking - seoul62...........

[gondramB]

First, I hope the pilot is Ok.

But then... damn - 2 billion dollars.

[LukeL]

I bet they wish they paid for the $6.00 insurance.

[Hammerhead]

That’s the golf course I always played in the background.

[al baby]

They can’t they shut that program down already

[geopyg]

Thanks - any ideas on how many? (Or will you have to kill me afterwards?)

[magellan]

"It won't be replaced since the B-2 line was shut down a long time ago. The Air Force has much more pressing needs than replacing a single airplane with a 40% operational readiness rate."

Just pull one of these out of the boneyard to replace it:

[BladeLWS]

This is the list of aircraft and names for the B-2’s

Designation Tail # Formal name
AV-1 82-1066 Spirit of America
AV-2 82-1067 Spirit of Arizona
AV-3 82-1068 Spirit of New York
AV-4 82-1069 Spirit of Indiana
AV-5 82-1070 Spirit of Ohio
AV-6 82-1071 Spirit of Mississippi
AV-7 88-0328 Spirit of Texas
AV-8 88-0329 Spirit of Missouri
AV-9 88-0330 Spirit of California
AV-10 88-0331 Spirit of South Carolina
AV-11 88-0332 Spirit of Washington
AV-12 89-0127 Spirit of Kansas
AV-13 89-0128 Spirit of Nebraska
AV-14 89-0129 Spirit of Georgia
AV-15 90-0040 Spirit of Alaska
AV-16 90-0041 Spirit of Hawaii
AV-17 92-0700 Spirit of Florida
AV-18 93-1085 Spirit of Oklahoma
AV-19 93-1086 Spirit of Kitty Hawk
AV-20 93-1087 Spirit of Pennsylvania
AV-21 93-1088 Spirit of Louisiana

[OCC]

I wonder which one went down?

Designation Tail # Formal name
AV-1 82-1066 Spirit of America
AV-2 82-1067 Spirit of Arizona
AV-3 82-1068 Spirit of New York
AV-4 82-1069 Spirit of Indiana
AV-5 82-1070 Spirit of Ohio
AV-6 82-1071 Spirit of Mississippi
AV-7 88-0328 Spirit of Texas
AV-8 88-0329 Spirit of Missouri
AV-9 88-0330 Spirit of California
AV-10 88-0331 Spirit of South Carolina
AV-11 88-0332 Spirit of Washington
AV-12 89-0127 Spirit of Kansas
AV-13 89-0128 Spirit of Nebraska
AV-14 89-0129 Spirit of Georgia
AV-15 90-0040 Spirit of Alaska
AV-16 90-0041 Spirit of Hawaii
AV-17 92-0700 Spirit of Florida
AV-18 93-1085 Spirit of Oklahoma
AV-19 93-1086 Spirit of Kitty Hawk
AV-20 93-1087 Spirit of Pennsylvania
AV-21 93-1088 Spirit of Louisiana
AV-22–AV-165 canceled

[Henchster]

From your post:

Witnesses said the military aircraft crashed before it could take off from the airfield

What did they do, hit one of those dreaded out-of-control SUVs on the runway?

[OCC]

[BladeLWS]

Could be any number of things, blown tires, gear collapse, engine problems, not enough speed for take off and not enough room to stop etc etc

[Balding_Eagle]

A Commander in Chief and Congress committed to the defense of this Nation will move quickly to replace this expensive but not irreplaceable combat asset.

Surely a Pesident Obama meeting with the terrosits can eliminate the need for such a wasteful terror machine as the B-2.

[geopyg]

Thanks to you both! (10 seconds difference!?)

[Travis McGee]

Beautiful beach down there below the cliffs too. Stunning. Was it called Tarragi (sp?) Beach? Out of this world.

[Travis McGee]

We lived 5 minutes by bike from here. What a beautiful piece of the world. I sailed through that cut into Apra Harbor dozens of times.

A nice gallery of Guam photos in clickable thumbnails.

[wheelgun]

NEWS UPDATE: 1:45 p.m. - Crashed plane is a B-2 stealth bomber, pilots safe
Pacific Daily News
news@guampdn.com

1:45 p.m. - The U.S. Air Force has confirmed that a B-2 bomber crashed on Andersen air Force Base at about 10:45 a.m. today.

Two pilots from the 509th Bomb Wing were on board and ejected, according to a press release from Pacific Air Command public affairs at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii.

Medics have determined the pilots are in good condition, the release said.

A board of officers will investigate why the plane crashed, according to the release. According to the Government Accountability Office each B-2 Spirit Bomber costs about $2 billion.

The bomber was visiting from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.