Editor’s note: This is a developing story.
A U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress crashed Monday after taking off from a California base, according to service officials, with eight crew members presumed dead.
The aircraft crashed shortly after its takeoff on Edwards Air Force Base, located mostly in Kern County, at 11:20 a.m. local time, per a base announcement released Monday afternoon.
Emergency crews responded to the crash immediately, with efforts to secure the scene ongoing as of Monday afternoon, according to the statement.
At around 2:45 p.m. local time, or 5:45 p.m. EST, the base revealed that the B-52 was carrying eight personnel on a routine test mission.
Initial indications are that the crash was not survivable, the release says, and officials were working to account for all personnel with the emergency response crew on scene.
Base officials did not specify the cause of the crash, stating only that more information will be released once it is available.
Roughly an hour and a half after the crash, Edwards closed the airfield and began diverting all inbound aircraft, according to a social media post.
“All non-commercial visitor passes have been suspended until further notice to allow the installation to focus entirely on emergency response operations,” the post reads.
The Air Force has used the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress in various operations dating back to Vietnam.
Most recently, the aircraft flew missions as part of Operation Epic Fury against Iran, where the bomber carried out long-range air strikes targeting ballistic missile facilities and command-and-control infrastructure.
The B-52 is the Air Force’s oldest bomber in service and could potentially become the first military aircraft to remain in service for a century.
Cristina Stassis is a reporter covering stories surrounding the defense industry, national security, military/veteran affairs and more. She previously worked as an editorial fellow for Defense News in 2024 where she assisted the newsroom in breaking news across Sightline Media Group.
