An investigation into the deadly crash of a US Air Force B-52 bomber at a California base could take up to six months to complete, officials said. The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, carrying eight people, crashed during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert on Monday, resulting in a fiery explosion and thick plumes of smoke.
Crash Details
The bomber made a sharp right turn after takeoff, followed by a near 180-degree turn before plummeting at a rate of about 5,056 feet per minute onto another runway—nearly ten times faster than a normal descent for landing, according to flight tracking data from AirNav Systems. All eight crew members, including Boeing employees, government workers, military personnel, and civilian contractors, were killed. Their identities have not been publicly released.
Investigation Underway
The airfield remained closed on Tuesday as crews worked to make the crash site safe for search and recovery teams. Fires flared up overnight, said Mike Paoli, a spokesperson for the 412th Test Wing at Edwards. Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti, a former investigator for the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, suspects a flight control malfunction. Possible causes include incorrect rigging after maintenance, a catastrophic engine problem, or failure of a piece of equipment being tested.
“I think it was definitely a controllability issue. Now, whether that was tied to an engine failure, a flight control failure, or some new testing device failure, I’m not sure,” Guzzetti said.
Context of Recent Accidents
Fatal training accidents in the US Air Force in recent years include an instructor pilot killed in 2024 when an ejection seat activated while the aircraft was on the ground in Texas, and an ROTC cadet who died in a 2022 Humvee accident during a training exercise in Idaho. Two pilots were also killed in 2021 when a trainer jet crashed near an Alabama airport.
Edwards Air Force Base Role
Edwards is a key hub for aircraft test and development. The 412th Test Wing conducts developmental testing of all Air Force aircraft, weapons systems, software, and components. The crashed B-52 was supporting a radar modernization program, according to Col James Hayes, deputy commander for the 412th Test Wing. In 2025, Boeing sent a B-52 to Edwards with a modernized radar system designed to keep the bomber operational until at least 2050, nearly a century after its first service entry.
