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-Short Attention Span Theater-
B-52 bomber carrying 6 crashes off Guam
2008-07-21
From the "Where's Joe Mendiola" Department...
HONOLULU--An Air Force B-52 bomber carrying six crew members and en route to conduct a flyover in a parade crashed off the island of Guam, officials said.

At least two people were recovered from the waters, but their condition was not immediately available, the Coast Guard said. Rescue crews from the Navy, Coast Guard and local fire department launched a massive aerial and ocean search for the others in and around a vast area of floating debris and a sheen of oil.

The crashed occurred at 9:45 a.m. Monday about 30 miles northwest of Apra Harbor, the Air Force said. The B-52 was scheduled to fly over the Liberation Day parade, marking the day when the U.S. military arrived on Guam to retake control of the island from Japan.
The aircraft was from Barksdale LA. God help them find the whole crew.
Posted by:OldSpook

#7  RIP. Our local radio, reading the newswire, noted a "Stealth Bomber" crashed. First time a B-52 was called stealth, I bet, and a reflection of media war-tools ignorance
Posted by: Frank G   2008-07-21 19:43  

#6  GUAM K57 AM > seems the USAF + Andersen AFB have confirmed TWO as dead, FOUR as still missing, wid one of the former now tentatively identified as Colonel George Martin after notif of next of kin. Iff this is the same B52 I saw flying over northern Guam, I wondering iff the cause was LACK OF LUBE/FUEL? [Sensors again?] AS ENGINES SOUNDED LIKE IT WAS GRINDING OR "CATCHING" - JUST DIDN'T SOUND GOOD???
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2008-07-21 19:15  

#5  I lend another voice of condolence...

... AND another Vote for the G'damn Air Force to re-open the Buff Assembly Line, the A-10 line, A-6 line and the A-14 line until the Clones & Drones take Over.

/money much better spent that some of the Hot Shot Weapons they are dreaming about today.
Posted by: Red Dawg   2008-07-21 18:43  

#4  I salute their service and sacrifice.
Posted by: Besoeker   2008-07-21 11:05  

#3  Mike, it was probably an instructor pilot sitting on the jump seat behind the pilots. The gunner's ejection seat has not been removed, although I don't know whether the seat is still serviceable for ejection.

Unfortunately there are more than a few B-52's in the water off of Guam. May the good Lord comfort their families.
Posted by: RWV   2008-07-21 09:23  

#2  Sad news my heart goes out to crew and families.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge   2008-07-21 08:54  

#1  ...Whatever happened sounds like it happened brutally fast - the crew is actually five (pilot, co-pilot, electronic warfare, radar nav and bomb nav) so there had to be an observer aboard for some reason. The pilot, co-pilot, and electronic warfare officer eject upwards from the flight deck and the two navs eject down from their stations, and the observer has to make his way down to the nav stations and physically climb out of the airplane. God bless and comfort the crew members' families - the B-52 community is a small one these days and a loss like this will hurt badly.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2008-07-21 06:30  

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