B-52 crash

Air Force says B-52 crash carrying 8 at Edwards was 'not survivable'

By Olivia Hebert

A U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress crashed shortly after taking off from Edwards Air Force Base on Monday.

The bomber went down on the Edwards airfield at 11:20 a.m., according to base spokesperson Mary Becerra. 

“Emergency crews immediately responded to the scene, and the situation is ongoing,” Becerra told SFGATE via email.

Later in the afternoon, an Air Force news release said that the bomber had been carrying eight people on “a routine test mission” and that “initial indications are that the crash was not survivable.”

Made by Boeing, the B-52 Stratofortress is among the oldest active aircraft still flying with the U.S. military, having first entered service in 1955, and it remains a cornerstone of the Air Force’s fleet. The Air Force operates 76 B-52Hs, which can carry both conventional and nuclear weapons. 

The last B-52 crash occurred in 2016, when a B-52H assigned to the 69th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron aborted a takeoff at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, departed the runway and caught fire. All seven crew members escaped with minor injuries, but the aircraft was destroyed.