Courtesy Yahoo
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE (NBC4, Los Angeles) — Eight people died after a B-52 Stratofortress crashed and burst into flames shortly after takeoff on a test mission Monday from Edwards Air Force base in California’s Mojave Desert, according to military officials.
The crash was reported at about 11:20 a.m. at the remote base about 100 miles north of Los Angeles and 20 miles east Rosamond in eastern Kern County. In a news release Monday afternoon, the base said eight people were on the aircraft during a routine test mission.
“Initial indications are that the crash was not survivable,” the statement continued. “Emergency response personnel are on scene, and officials are working to account for all personnel.”
Col. James Hayes, the deputy commander for the 412 test wing at the air force base, said at a press conference that, “We lost eight great Americans” in the crash. The Boeing Company later confirmed two of its employees were among the eight passengers on board who died.
Video showed black smoke rising from an area near the airfield, which was closed. All inbound aircraft were diverted, the base said.
Details about what led to the crash and the identities of those onboard were not immediately available. Determining a cause could take months, authorities said.
Those onboard included members of the military, government civilians and government contractors, officials said. Military officials said families of those killed were being notified.
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, which generally has a crew of five, is a long-range bomber used for a variety of military missions. Capable of subsonic speeds and altitudes of 50,000 feet, the bomber was a workhorse of Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and other conflicts. The B-52, which can carry both conventional and nuclear weapons, has been the backbone of the United States’ bomber force for decades.
Last year, a regional airliner pilot flying over North Dakota made an unexpected sharp turn to avoid a possible midair collision with a B-52 bomber that was in its flight path.
Edwards Air Force Base, covering 480 square miles in Kern County, is used for research, development and testing of U.S. Air Force aircraft, weapons systems, software and components.
The base was where famed pilot Chuck Yeager broke the speed of sound in 1947. It served as the West Coast base for dozens of NASA Space Shuttle landings and a testing ground for the now-retired orbiters. Atlantis was the last shuttle to land at Edwards AFB in 2009.
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