Eight crew members are believed to be dead following a US Air Force Boeing B-52 Stratofortress crash on Monday, reported CNN, citing the Edwards Air Force Base.
The plane crashed after having taken off from the base, located in California, at 11:20 a.m. local time.
“Emergency crews immediately responded to the scene, and the situation is ongoing,” the base wrote in a post on X/Twitter.
The crash occured at 11:20 a.m. local time, according to the base.
ALERT: A United States Air Force B-52 Stratofortress crashed shortly after takeoff on the Edwards airfield at 11:20 a.m.
Emergency crews immediately responded to the scene and the situation is ongoing. More information will be provided as it becomes available. pic.twitter.com/x932d3HXHz
— Edwards Air Force Base (@EdwardsAFB) June 15, 2026
The eight-engined strategic bomber has been in service for over 70 years, with current engineering analyses indicating the aircraft’s lifespan will extend past 2040, according to the US Air Force Strike Command’s website.
Large, high-flying bomber
With a wingspan of 185 feet (56.4 meters), the B-52 can be equipped with the widest array of weapons in the US military’s inventory, the website said.
According to the website, the aircraft is capable of flying at high subsonic speeds at altitudes up to 50,000 feet (15,166.6 meters) and can carry both nuclear and conventional ordinance.
In a conventional conflict, the B-52 can perform strategic attack, close-air support, air interdiction, offensive counter-air and maritime operations, the fact sheet said.
Monday’s incident marked the first crash of a B-52 Stratofortress since the same type of bomber crashed on the island of Guam in May 2016, according to the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archive, a Geneva-based organization that collects global aviation accident data. All seven crew members aboard that aircraft survived.
Pentagon declines comment
The Air Force and Pentagon initially declined to comment on Monday’s crash beyond what the base reported online. Base officials could not immediately be reached for additional comment.
Only the H model of the B-52 remains in the Air Force inventory, and is assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota and the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, both under the Air Force Global Strike Command, and to the Reserve Command’s 307th Bomb Wing at Barksdale, according to the military.
