Emergency crews responded to a U.S. Air Force bomber crash at Edwards Air Force base on Monday morning. Eight people aboard the B-52 Stratofortress died in the crash, Air Force officials said late Monday. “Initial indications are that the crash was not survivable,” the initial military statement read.
According to The Associate Press, footage showed very little left of the aircraft that went down around 11:20 a.m. during a routine test mission at Edwards Air Force Base. The incident is still under investigation.
The crew was on a routine test mission before crashing shortly after takeoff, base officials announced on social media. Emergency response crews responded immediately.
About an hour after the crash, officials closed the airfield and diverted all inbound aircraft. All noncommercial visitor passes were also suspended “to allow the installation to focus entirely on emergency response operations,” officials said in a statement.
Local news footage the aftermath showed black smoke rising from the black ash and soot on the dusty airfield.
“We lost eight great Americans,” Col. James Hayes, the deputy commander for the 412 test wing at Edwards, said at a news conference, adding that officials were working to notify their families, per AP.
It was not immediately clear why the B-52 was flying on Monday.
The B-52 is a long-range, heavy bomber that has been in military service since the 1950s and remains central to U.S. air power. The aircraft typically carries a crew of five and can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet at “subsonic speeds” (650 miles per hour).
The heavy bombers have a weapons payload capacity of 70,000 pounds, capable of carrying conventional and nuclear weapons.
B-52’s have a 185-foot wingspan and weigh about 488,000 pounds at takeoff, according to the U.S. Air Force.
Edwards Air Force Base spans 484 square miles in Southern California’s Mojave Desert. It is home to the world’s largest airfield and was the site of the historic 1947 flighty by Chuck Yeager, who first broke the sound barrier there, according to The New York Times.
