B-52 Was Plunging Nearly a Mile a Minute Before Crash

The B-52 involved in a deadly crash during a test flight at an Air Force base in California made a sharp right and then nearly completed a 180-degree turn before plunging to the ground at a rate of nearly a mile a minute, limited tracking data showed Tuesday. All eight people aboard were killed in Monday's fiery crash of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, which was taking part in a routine mission as part of an overall program to keep the long-running aircraft flying for decades to come. It was not yet clear what caused the plane to crash immediately after takeoff, reports the AP, and officials at Edwards Air Force Base said it could take up to six months to complete the investigation.

The airfield remained closed Tuesday. Crews were making the crash site safe for search and recovery teams to enter after fires flared up overnight, said Mike Paoli, a spokesperson for the 412 Test Wing at Edwards. The flight tracking that was available Tuesday shows the bomber turning to the northeast right after takeoff and nearly completing a 180 degree turn before crashing on another runway, according to AirNav Systems. The data that came from a system called "multilateration" doesn't show precise altitude and speed information, but it does show the plane fell to earth at a rate of descent of 5,056 feet per minute—nearly 10 times as fast as a plane normally descends when preparing to land.

The aircraft was supporting a "radar modernization program," Col. James Hayes, the deputy commander for the 412th Test Wing, said Monday. In 2025, Boeing sent a B-52 to Edwards with a modernized radar system that is key to keeping the bomber in the air through at least 2050, nearly a century after it first entered service. A test team planned to conduct ground and flight test activities on the aircraft throughout 2026 to feed a production decision, the Air Force said in a 2025 news release. The modern Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar system replaced the aircraft's antiquated radar. Aviation safety expert J. Joseph said that often when a crash happens at very low altitude right after takeoff, a problem with the flight controls or engines is involved. He said that when something goes wrong this close to the ground the pilot has very little chance to do anything. "There's a lot of options with altitude, a lot of options with airspeed. And that is a very critical phase of flight right after takeoff," Joseph said.

Aerial footage showed virtually nothing left of the aircraft that went down at the base in the Mojave Desert about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles. Officials determined no one could have survived after reviewing footage of the crash, Hayes said. Those on the B-52 included government contractors, Boeing employees, and uniformed military. NBC News notes that one of them was civilian flight test engineer Jeromy Smith, who had just returned to work after welcoming a newborn son. "My husband just went back to work," said Lauren Smith. "He was there for just a week."