Stratofortress crash near Edwards

[herr_oberst]

[onewhippedpuppy]

That doesn’t look good. The B52 has ejection seats but I don’t know if they are 0/0, and that happened during takeoff.

[Baz]

Entire crew lost.....8 souls......

[pwd72s]

I think my F-111 pilot buddy once told me that for the cockpit crew at least, a B-52 ejection seat moves downward. Please correct if I'm wrong...

[tdw28210]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

I think my F-111 pilot buddy once told me that for the cockpit crew at least, a B-52 ejection seat moves downward. Please correct if I'm wrong...

You're correct. Some downward and some upward. Regardless, it appears they had no real chance as they were taking off. I imagine everyone was focused on getting her to climb or at least level and stable, not pulling their eject handles. RIP airmen.

[Baz]

[A930Rocket]

I was hoping for survivors. RIP

[fanaudical]

Sad day - Godspeed to the crew.

Originally Posted by pwd72s

I think my F-111 pilot buddy once told me that for the cockpit crew at least, a B-52 ejection seat moves downward. Please correct if I'm wrong...

I used to attend the airshows at Fairchild AFB and got to crawl into the cockpit of a B-52 one day and talk with the crew. The pilots and two rear-facing weapons officers sit on the top deck and all four eject up. Two additional weapons officers sit on the lower deck facing forward and eject down. The pilot told me that if they have to eject near ground level that SOP is to roll the aircraft 90 degrees if possible so that everybody has an even chance of surviving ejection.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by fanaudical

Sad day - Godspeed to the crew.



I used to attend the airshows at Fairchild AFB and got to crawl into the cockpit of a B-52 one day and talk with the crew. The pilots and two rear-facing weapons officers sit on the top deck and all four eject up. Two additional weapons officers sit on the lower deck facing forward and eject down. The pilot told me that if they have to eject near ground level that SOP is to roll the aircraft 90 degrees if possible so that everybody has an even chance of surviving ejection.

Yeah, that sounds fatal at low altitude. Sad story today.

[sc_rufctr]

Freekin awful. Rest in peace.

[KFC911]

Simply horrific ... they had no chance ...

RIP

[rfuerst911sc]

When I saw this yesterday I knew it was a dire situation for the crew . RIP warriors .

[astrochex]

There were two Boeing engineers on the plane also. RIP.

[speeder]

I wonder what could have failed so completely, (no redundancy), that it basically could not get off of the ground?

[CurtEgerer]

It's amazing that these planes are still effective after 7 decades!! As a kid in the 60s/70s we had a family cabin near Wurtsmith AFB in Oscoda, MI. It was a Strategic Air Command base during the cold war. I clearly remember watching the B-52s fly overhead on a regular basis. They were so large and flying so low, they looked like they were just hanging from the clouds. It was incredible to see. We'd also go to the AFB, park along the fence on the road and watch the B-52s and fighter jets take off. Of course, the public could not get inside. Wurtsmith was decommissioned in the 90s and is now home to many industrial businesses, including Kalitta Air owned by drag racer Connie Kalitta. I did some work on one of their buildings that got damaged and it was fun to drive around the entire historic base and see what I had been missing in 60s! A small city in itself.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Likely unrelated, they were flight testing a new radar system for the aircraft, which is why they had contractors on board. USAF is investing big money into new B52 engines, radar, and satellite communications systems right now.

[KNS]

I wonder if they'll pull another B-52H out of Davis Monthan AFB (the Boneyard) to replace the one that was lost. In the last several years two B-52s have been returned to service from DM storage (as well as a B-1 not long ago) to replace others that were lost. There's only a small number of the "H" models left at DM.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by KNS

I wonder if they'll pull another B-52H out of Davis Monthan AFB (the Boneyard) to replace the one that was lost. In the last several years two B-52s have been returned to service from DM storage (as well as a B-1 not long ago) to replace others that were lost. There's only a small number of the "H" models left at DM.

I'd guess that is a strong possibility. After all, the B-52 is sill very effective...as recently demonstrated.