B-52 bomber crashes in California desert ‘shortly after take off’
A B-52 Stratofortress aircraft flies over an undisclosed location(Picture: United States Air Forces Central)
A B-52 bomber crashed shortly after taking off from a base close to Los Angeles.
‘A United States Air Force B-52 Stratofortress crashed shortly after takeoff on the Edwards airfield at 11.20am’, the base said onFacebook. ‘Emergency crews immediately responded to the scene and the situation is ongoing.’
It is not immediately clear if there are any injuries.
The crash left a towering black plume at Edwards Air Force Base, located in California’s Mojave Desert, northeast of Los Angeles.
A large blackened scar is left on the runway but no parts of the wreckage are immediatly visible in local news footage.
The airfield is closed, inbound aircraft are being diverted and all non-commercial visitor passes are suspended until further notice as the base focuses on its emergency response, it said.
The B-52 is one of the Air Force’s oldest aircraft becoming associated with the Cold War in the 1950s.
Today, the long-range heavy bomber, typically carries a crew of five and as much as 70,000 pounds of bombs.
The B-52H, which has nuclear capabilities, has been used in bombing missions over Iran.
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