A B-52H bomber crashed June 15 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., the base confirmed. The status of the crew is unknown.
In a social media post, Edwards officials said the crash occurred shortly after takeoff, around 11:20 a.m. local time. “Emergency crews immediately responded to the scene,” the post states. “More information will be provided as it becomes available.”
In a subsequent update, officials said Edwards’ airfield is closed.
Images and videos circulating on social media show fire crews spraying water on a smoldering wreck. A live camera feed from UC San Diego’s ALERTCalifornia program shows a tower of black smoke rising from the area around the time of the crash.
BREAKING: A U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber crashed shortly after takeoff at Edwards Air Force Base, triggering an emergency response.
Emergency crews rushed to the scene as thick black smoke billowed from the wreckage scattered across the desert airfield.
More details, including… pic.twitter.com/JRx3R4ElJW— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 15, 2026
Edwards is the Air Force’s premier test base, and a B-52 arrived there in December to start testing the bomber’s new radar. The Radar Modernization Program is one of several upgrades planned for the Stratofortress. B-52s also fly from Edwards to test new weapons like the hypersonic Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon and the nuclear Long-Range Standoff cruise missile
It is unclear which aircraft crashed June 15.
The B-52 is one of the oldest aircraft in the Air Force inventory, with the 76-aircraft fleet’s average age exceeding 64 years. The Air Force plans to keep flying the bombers until 2050.
According to Air Force statistics, the last “Class A” mishap involving a B-52 occurred in fiscal 2018, but the service has not lost one of the bombers since 2016, when one crashed at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam after an aborted takeoff. The crew evacuated safely but the aircraft was destroyed.