Updated

Updated · The New York Times · Jun 17

Air Force Identifies 8 Victims in B-52 Crash at Edwards After Routine Test Flight

Updated

Updated · The New York Times · Jun 17

Air Force Identifies 8 Victims in B-52 Crash at Edwards After Routine Test Flight

Q: An engineer warned of a problem with the B-52 before its fatal flight. Why was this warning not heeded?

It is not yet possible to say that a warning was ignored, or why. The crash investigation is still in its early stages, and the Air Force has not identified a cause. What is known is limited. Jeromy Smith’s widow said he had told her “there was something wrong with the plane” when the flight had been delayed the previous week. That suggests there had been a technical concern, but it does not establish what the problem was, how serious it was judged to be, who knew about it, or whether it was believed to have been fixed before Monday’s flight. The Air Force has said test flights are routinely delayed for maintenance and other reasons, and it has declined to discuss specific repairs, citing operational security. Additional reporting indicates an “urgent action 107” related to the aircraft’s rudder was approved before the flight, apparently allowing the bomber to fly after a temporary corrective or deferred-maintenance action. But there is no public evidence yet showing that this decision violated procedure or overrode a formal safety objection from an engineer. Investigators are examining several possibilities, including a controllability problem, maintenance-related error, engine failure, or an issue tied to the radar modernization test configuration. Until that inquiry is complete, any claim that an engineer’s warning was not heeded would be speculative rather than established fact.

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 17

Eight people killed in Monday’s B-52 crash at Edwards Air Force Base were identified Wednesday, days after the bomber went down shortly after takeoff in the Mojave Desert.
The B-52 Stratofortress crashed at 11:20 a.m. during a routine radar-modernization test mission and erupted into flames that officials called unsurvivable.
Air Force investigators have not determined a cause and said the inquiry could take months, while a victim’s wife said her husband had told her the flight had been delayed the prior week because something was wrong with the plane.
An Air Force spokesman declined to discuss any possible repairs, citing operational security, and said test flights are routinely rescheduled for reasons including maintenance and winds.
The crash struck at Edwards, a 484-square-mile base long central to U.S. flight testing and home to the world’s largest airfield.