B-1 Crash in Southeast Montana (19-08-13)

GQfluffy (Database Editor & Founding Member) 19 Aug 13, 19:17

http://www.ktvq.com/news/b1-bomber-crashes-in-southeast-montana/?fb_comment_id=fbc_207038972792356_576754_207042299458690#!prettyPhoto/0/

EKALAKA - A United State Air Force B-1 bomber crashed on Monday morning in a remote area of southeast Montana but the crew of four escaped with minor injuries.

According a spokesperson with Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, South Dakota, the crash happened near Broadus in Carter County.

Residents of Ekalaka tell is that the emergency sirens in that town were activated between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. to alert the volunteer fire department of the crash....

...Ellsworth AFB is the home of the 28th Bomb Wing. They maintain and fly 28 B-1 bombers and are home to two of the Air Forces's three B-1 combat squadrons. There are roughly 60 B-1's in the U.S. Air Force fleet.

Comments from Ellsworth-

http://www.ktvq.com/news/ellsworth-air-force-base-comments-on-b-1-bomber-crash/

Ellsworth Air Force Base said they believed all injuries sustained by the crew members to be minor.

"We are actively working to ensure the safety of the crew members and have sent first responders to secure the scene and work closely with local authorities at the crash site," said Col. Kevin Kennedy, 28th Bomb Wing commander. "Right now all of our thoughts and prayers are with the crews and their families."

Ellsworth Air Force Base said the Air Force will be conducting an investigation to determine a cause of the crash.

They are right about one thing- there isn't much out there in SE Montana.

Last edited by Queso on 07 Jan 14, 18:27, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Added date to thread title.

Teller of no, fixer of everything, friend of the unimportant and all around good guy; the CAD Monkey

Lucas (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 19 Aug 13, 22:28

Last year we'd have had an awesome wildfire from it. I read that it was near Broadus.

Lucas (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 21 Aug 13, 20:09

Newest information seems to indicate that it may have broken up in flight, or been on fire prior to impact. The crew did not have time to say a mayday.

Two instructors were onboard at the time of the crash, along with two trainees.

kmh1956 (Founding Member) 22 Aug 13, 03:51

Lucas wrote:Newest information seems to indicate that it may have broken up in flight, or been on fire prior to impact. The crew did not have time to say a mayday.

Two instructors were onboard at the time of the crash, along with two trainees.

That's one HELL of a splat...just judging from that photo, it's amazing there were survivors...

CO777ER (Database Editor & Founding Member) 22 Aug 13, 03:57

kmh1956 wrote:That's one HELL of a splat...just judging from that photo, it's amazing there were survivors...

Well they did pull the "Oh $hit" handles before it splat {boxed}

JeffSFO (Photo Quality Screener & Founding Member) 22 Aug 13, 03:59

kmh1956 wrote:That's one HELL of a splat...just judging from that photo, it's amazing there were survivors...

Well, there are these things called ejection seats...

All kidding aside, I'm glad the crew survived but am bummed the Air Force lost another Bone.

GQfluffy (Database Editor & Founding Member) 22 Aug 13, 04:07

Montana is more or less...kinda...flat in the Southeast corner of the state...so yeah something would've had to have gone wrong in-flight...unless they ran across the very random transmission line because they were smokin' in low...

Teller of no, fixer of everything, friend of the unimportant and all around good guy; the CAD Monkey

Lucas (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 22 Aug 13, 04:23

My fault, poor wording. Crew was onboard just PRIOR to the crash.

Not at the time of...

There are only minor hills in the area; it's mostly flat.

Attachments

: Small hills, but mostly flat.; mt crash site.jpg (52.41 KiB) Viewed 2393 times

Lucas (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 22 Aug 13, 04:26

And one of the parachutes:

ShanwickOceanic (netAirspace FAA) 22 Aug 13, 06:07

Seriously? It crashed in Crater County? {rotfl}

My friend and I applied for airline jobs in Australia, but they didn't Qantas.

Boris (Founding Member) 22 Aug 13, 15:03

ShanwickOceanic wrote:Seriously? It crashed in Crater County?

I checked a map; it should say CARTER County.

But I like Crater better...

The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers...

Lucas (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 22 Aug 13, 19:38

Crater county makes a lot more sense these days. {laugh}

Lucas (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 02 Sep 13, 18:38

So far, all the eyewitness reports are saying that it broke into two distinct fireballs during flight. The technicians operating the aircraft at the time (just kidding) said they weren't aware that anything was wrong with the aircraft until seconds before it all hit the fan and they bailed.

I'm pretty interested in finding out what really happened with this one.

Lucas (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 04 Jan 14, 05:17

Update!

Air Combat Command says that the crash was due to the following:

Can you guess?

No?

Well fine.

7000lbs of fuel leaked into the frame of the aircraft and was ignited by hot ductwork, causing multiple detonations, which is why the aircraft was reported to "repeatedly blow up in the air." Turns out it actually did become a "bomb"er.

Click Click D'oh (Photo Quality Screener & Founding Member) 07 Jan 14, 16:01

Ride along in the crash.

We sleep peacefully in our beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf

Lucas (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 07 Jan 14, 18:20

Click Click D'oh wrote:Ride along in the crash.

That was an intense read. Everyone should check it out. Can't believe the airplane lasted that long.

ORFflyer (Founding Member) 08 Jan 14, 16:14

Lucas wrote:That was an intense read. Everyone should check it out. Can't believe the airplane lasted that long.

What he said.... ^^^^

Rack-em'. I'm getting a beer.

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