A US Air Force B-52 bomber crashed not long after it took off on the Edwards airfield in California, Edwards Air Force Base said. It also confirmed that eight crew members of the B-52 strategic bomber are thought to be dead.
“An Air Force B-52 Stratofortress carrying eight people on a routine test mission crashed today shortly after take-off at 11:20 a.m. PDT (11:50 p.m. IST). Initial indications are that the crash was not survivable. Emergency response personnel are on scene, and officials are working to account for all personnel,” the base said in a statement.
The base said that the airfield had been closed, and all inbound aircraft were being diverted.
“All non-commercial visitor passes have been suspended until further notice to allow the installation to focus entirely on emergency response operations,” the statement read.
US media have published videos of the crash, showing a large scorched area of land, with the wreckage of the plane barely visible, and smoke rising in some places.
According to the statement, the crash is under investigation.
