B-52 bomber crashes at Guam air base

[webfact]

B-52 crashes at Guam air base, no injuries reported

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — The U.S. Air Force said Friday a B-52 crashed on Guam shortly after takeoff, but all seven crew members made it out safely. No injuries were reported.

The plane aborted on takeoff and caught fire at about 8:30 a.m., Pacific Air Forces public affairs said in an email. It crashed on the flight line of the base.

The bomber was deployed to Guam from Minot, North Dakota, as part of the military's continuous bomber presence in the Pacific, The Air Force said. The crew members are with the 69th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron and were performing a routine training mission, it said.

The incident is under investigation. Officials were taking steps to mitigate possible unspecified environmental effects, the Air Force said.

The Air Force has been rotating B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers through Guam since 2004 to boost the U.S. security presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

A B-52 crashed off Guam in 2008, killing all six crew members on board. That plane had been flying around the island as part of Guam Liberation Day celebrations, marking the day when the U.S. military arrived to retake control of the island from Japan during World War II. The B-52 had been scheduled to conduct a flyover in a parade.

Guam is a U.S. territory 3,700 miles southwest of Hawaii.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-05-19

[Boon Mee]

This poster has taken off from Anderson Air Base there on Guam on a few occasions and the end of the runway (although a long one) drops right off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean.

[daoyai]

B52s have been there much longer than from 2oo8 AND they are carying nukes, half are (or were) in the air at all times .... the "unspecified environmental threat" is quite possibly a radiation leak from a damaged bomb.

[55Jay]

[mamypoko]

Did it crash on the first or second half of the day?

[Dumbastheycome]

Yep. Asia-Pacific security. Them Islanders can be stroppy at times. And Aussies....argumentative lot eh !

Guess thats why the need to double up Guams capacity in recent years and enlarge it . (oops... artificial islands????? )

[IAMHERE]

If the B-52 was to do a flyover as part of a parade I doubt it was loaded with bombs of any sort. Lots of liquids that needs to be cleaned up so they don't soak into the ground.

[OccamsRazor]

[Scott]

Off-topic posts and replies removed.

[macksview]

glad the crew were all ok.

spectacular aircraft, but never keen to see them in australia, seen them a few times.