AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTYou have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.All eight crew members died when the bomber crashed during a routine test mission at a military base in California on Monday.Listen · 6:02 min A B-52 bomber crashed at Edwards Air Force Base moments after takeoff during a routine testing mission, killing eight people.Credit...Debbie Reyes Katz, via Associated PressJune 17, 2026, 2:22 p.m.
ETOn Monday, under clear skies in the Mojave Desert, a B-52 bomber crashed at Edwards Air Force Base in California moments after takeoff during a routine testing mission. All eight people aboard the plane were killed.In the days since, Air Force officials have begun an investigation, and the anguished families of the deceased have struggled to understand how a stalwart of the military fleet was suddenly at the center of a deadly incident.
The eight victims were identified on Wednesday.Here’s what we know so far:The plane crashed just minutes after takeoff from a historic air force base.The B-52 bomber crashed and burst into flames at 11:20 a.m., just minutes after takeoff from Edwards Air Force Base, about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
The plane exploded into a tower of fire and thick black smoke that Air Force officials described as “unsurvivable.”The plane, a B-52 Stratofortress, was conducting a routine test mission for a radar modernization program, officials said. They have not identified a cause for the crash, and said it could take months to figure out what happened.Lauren Smith, the wife of one of the victims, said that her husband, a test flight engineer for the Defense Department, had told her that the flight had been scheduled to take place the prior week, but that “there was something wrong with the plane.” An Air Force spokesman said that “operational security” prevented him from commenting on whether the flight had been delayed for repairs, but he said that test flights “are routinely scheduled and rescheduled” for various reasons, including maintenance and winds.Edwards Air Force Base is known as the military’s premier aerospace testing ground, because of both its proximity to other aerospace hubs in Southern California and its wide-open geography.
The base, which is 484 square miles, is home to the world’s largest airfield and is where the pilot Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier in 1947.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?
Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT
