Eight crew members were killed on Monday after a United States Air Force B-52 bomber jet crashed shortly after take-off from Edwards Air Force Base in California.
The aircraft came down at about 11.20 am local time, while conducting a routine test mission linked to a radar modernisation programme, AFP quoted Colonel James Hayes, the deputy commander for the 412 test wing at the base, as saying.
The crash occurred within the perimeter of the base in the Mojave Desert, about 95 km north of Los Angeles.
After reviewing footage from the scene, officials determined that the crash was “tragic and unsurvivable”, Hayes said.
Those on board included military personnel, government civilians and government contractors, CNN quoted Chief Master Sergeant Joshua T Skarloken as saying.
Boeing later confirmed that two of its employees were among those killed and said it was in contact with their families.
Footage from the scene showed a large plume of black smoke rising from a charred area near the runway.
The identities of those killed were not released as officials were still in the process of notifying their next of kin, AFP reported.
The cause of the crash remains unknown.
Hayes said the military will launch a formal investigation, but cautioned that a full analysis could take up to six months, CNN reported.
Edwards Air Force Base is the Air Force’s primary flight test centre and is used to evaluate aircraft, weapons systems and aerospace technologies, according to AP.
The air base was temporarily closed following the crash and incoming aircraft were diverted.
The B-52 Stratofortress first entered service in 1955 and remains one of the oldest aircraft in the US Air Force fleet. Designed as a long-range strategic bomber capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear weapons, it has been used in conflicts ranging from Vietnam to more recent operations in West Asia, AP reported.
Before Monday’s crash, the most recent fatal B-52 accident occurred in 2008, when six Air Force personnel were killed after a bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Guam, CNN reported.
Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.
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