8 Crew Members Dead After B-52 Crash at Edwards AFB

Eight crew members are believed dead after an Air Force B-52H Stratofortress crashed shortly after takeoff from Edwards Air Force Base in California on Monday. The aircraft went down during a routine test mission, the base said in a statement. The crash is considered “not survivable,” according to the statement.

The bomber was assigned to the 419th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Edwards, located in the Mojave Desert north of Los Angeles, has been the Air Force's primary flight test center since World War II.

The B-52H, first flown in the 1950s, remains a core part of the U.S. bomber fleet. Its eight engines and 185-foot wingspan make it one of the largest operational bombers in the world. The Air Force plans to keep the B-52H in service through the 2050s.

The base did not release the names of the crew members pending notification of their families. The crash site is within the base boundaries. Emergency crews responded but did not find survivors.

Senator Diane Feinstein of California said in a statement that she had been briefed on the crash. “This is a tremendous loss for the Air Force and our country,” she said. The Pentagon said it would support the investigation.

The accident marks the first fatal B-52 crash since a 2008 incident off the coast of Guam, which killed six crew members. Before that, the most recent B-52 crash in the U.S. was in 1994 at Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington State.