Eight people who were on board a United States Air Force B-52 Stratofortress died after the plane crashed shortly after takeoff at Edwards Air Force Base Monday morning.
Edwards Air Force Base wrote in a news release that “initial indications are that the crash was not survivable.” At an afternoon news conference, the deaths were confirmed. “Today, Edwards Air Force Base experienced a terrible tragedy and we lost eight great Americans,” Col. Thomas E. Hayes said.
Aerial footage taken shortly after the crash showed a large smoldering burn mark on the land.
The aircraft was on a routine test mission at Edwards airfield, located in the western Mojave Desert, about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles. It went down at about 11:20 a.m. local time, crashing and bursting into flames. “After reviewing the footage of the crash, it was deemed it was unsurvivable,” Hayes said, noting next of kin notifications are underway.
The airfield is closed and all inbound aircraft are being diverted, base officials said in an earlier statement.
“All non-commercial visitor passes have been suspended until further notice to allow the installation to focus entirely on emergency response operations. We will continue to update as more information is confirmed,” the statement said.
CBS LA
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, heavy, jet-powered strategic bomber.
No further information is available at this time.
This is a developing story and will be updated.