A B-52 Stratofortress bomber from the United States Air Force crashed on Monday shortly after takeoff at the Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, California, with eight people on board in what authorities described as a routine test mission.
The accident occurred at 11:20 a.m. Pacific Time and left a towering column of black smoke visible from miles away. The runway at the base was left with a large charred mark, and according to images released by KCAL, a CNN affiliate, it was difficult to distinguish specific parts of the aircraft wreckage.
The Public Affairs Office of Test Wing 412, based in Edwards, issued an official statement indicating that "preliminary evidence suggests the accident was not survivable," which points to the death of the eight crew members.
Emergency teams responded immediately to the scene of the incident while authorities worked to locate all occupants of the aircraft.
The airfield was immediately closed following the accident. Incoming aircraft were diverted, and all non-commercial visitor passes were suspended until further notice as the base concentrated its resources on the emergency response.
The accident is under investigation, as confirmed by the base in its statement.
The B-52 Stratofortress is one of the longest-serving bombers in the history of military aviation. It entered service in 1955 and was manufactured by Boeing; production ceased in 1962. The currently operational version, the B-52H, can carry up to 70,000 pounds of bombs and munitions, including nuclear bombs and nuclear-capable cruise missiles.
The Air Force has 76 units of the B-52H, an aircraft that was recently used in bombing missions during the conflict between the United States and Iran. The peace agreement between the two nations was reached just one day before this incident, following an escalation that included U.S. bombings against Iranian targets and Iran's attacks on U.S. bases in the region.
Normally, the B-52 has a crew of five, though on this test mission it was carrying eight, increasing the magnitude of the tragedy.
Monday's accident is the deadliest involving a B-52 since 2008, when six Air Force members lost their lives when their aircraft crashed into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Guam while preparing for a flyover at a parade.
Since the model is no longer manufactured, any replacement fuselage must be obtained from the so-called "Boneyard," the aircraft graveyard located at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, just as happened after a non-fatal accident in 2016 that destroyed a B-52H in Guam.
The Air Force is implementing an ambitious modernization program for the B-52 focused on the design of new engines, with a total estimated cost of $48.6 billion, according to Defense News.
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