Monday's crash of a US Air Force B-52 bomber in California that killed eight people has taken its place among the deadliest military aviation accidents in US history.
The B-52 Stratofortress crashed shortly after takeoff from Edwards Air Force Base during a test mission linked to a radar modernization program. All eight people on board were killed, including two employees of Boeing, the plane’s manufacturer.
While the accident is among the deadliest involving a B-52 bomber in decades, it falls short of several major military aviation disasters that claimed far larger numbers of lives.
One of the deadliest incidents occurred in December 1985, when Arrow Air Flight 1285R, carrying US soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division, crashed shortly after takeoff from Newfoundland, Canada. A total of 256 people were killed, including 248 US military personnel.
Another major tragedy took place in April 1975 during Operation Babylift, a US-led evacuation effort at the end of the Vietnam War. A Lockheed C-5A Galaxy transport aircraft crashed shortly after departing Saigon, killing 138 people, including children, military personnel, and civilian workers.
A major B-52-related accident happened on January 17, 1966, near Palomares, Spain. A B-52G bomber collided in mid-air with a KC-135 refueling tanker. Seven crew members died in total. Four nuclear weapons fell from the plane, two of which detonated their conventional explosives on land, spreading radioactive plutonium and requiring a large-scale cleanup operation.
More recently, a KC-130T transport aircraft crashed in the Southern US state of Mississippi in 2017, killing all 16 military personnel on board.
The US military has also faced scrutiny over accidents involving the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. A crash in Arizona in 2000 killed 19 Marines, while another Osprey crash off Japan in 2023 claimed the lives of eight US service members and led to the temporary grounding of the fleet.
Among B-52-specific accidents, a 2008 crash near Guam killed six crew members, while a 1994 crash at Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington state killed four airmen during a training flight.
The latest accident is expected to draw particular attention because it involved a B-52, a key component of the United States’ long-range strike and nuclear deterrence capability.
First flown in 1954, the B-52 remains one of the most recognizable aircraft in the US arsenal and is expected to remain in service for decades following extensive modernization efforts.
US officials have launched an investigation into the cause of Monday’s crash.
