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(Associated Press) A B-52 from Barksdale Air Force Base 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 to fly over the Liberation Day parade.

Jesus whats going on in the USAF at the moment?!

Nick

nickblack423 wrote:Jesus whats going on in the USAF at the moment?!

Nick

And Guam??

nickblack423 wrote:Jesus whats going on in the USAF at the moment?!

Nick

They're flying aircraft that are taxed and old(this doesn't really include the B-2 obviously). They're having to do more with less. They've finished cutting fat and continue to cut muscle. The list goes on.

Neither the USN nor USMC are really faring that much better. Since JAN 08, the USN has had a midair with F/A-18E and F/A-18F, lost a Prowler, a F-5, an F-18C, and 2 T-45s. USMC lost 2 Harriers and a T-34.

I'm sure I have missed some from all services and I know the USAF does have more than the others(including trainers I'd say at least twice as much) but they also fly more than the others and maintain a larger fleet than the others so by strictly math they will have more accidents. Overall, the US military has had a tough first half of 2008... losing some quality aircraft and members of their families.

Yea seriously, what the heck is going on??

It just boggles my mind that these large complex aircraft are falling out of the skies. There's an old joke that in a B-52, an engine failure isn't an emergency, just a nuisance. So it makes me wonder what happened to them. I hope they are all OK but it doesn't sound good.

The B-2 accident was pinned on moisture interfering with the electronic flight control system. Such a little thing with such devastating results.

Like Chris is saying, you gotta wonder if we (the U.S.) are just simply asking too much from these aging aircraft.

Maybe someone in the DoD will take a long hard look at these accidents and something positive will come out of it.

Don't count on it getting any better. The pol's are tunnel focused on cutting expenditures. All of the services' are suffering from this, and at a time in history when we should have the sense to be building up, expanding and modernizing with as much vigor as we can muster. I fear that we will soon fall from grace. From top of the heap to third rate. From free to subjegated - if not directly, then by intimidation.

The peril is great, and our leaders seem to be blind, interested only in crass politics. This involvement in the east is stressing our resources, when it should be just another day at the office. The decisions to cut back on new procurement, to reduce the numbers of personnel and bases, the belief that we can develope a few super technology weapons to substitute for hunders of practical weapons etc, is all pie in the sky.

It may be too late to stop the decline. We may be near the end, and don't yet recognize it.

Planes will fall out of the sky in increasing numbers, ships will break down, leaving our sailors to drift helplessly at sea, and soldiers will have to go back to training with broom handles and flower sacks. Only this time around, there is no buffer of distance and time to allow us an opportunity to recover.

We absolutely have to be prepared for the worst case senario in the foreseeable future and beyond today, tommorrow and forever. That is the price we must be willing to pay if we desire to remain free. It not the we must be ready to accept what is comming. You, I - we all know what it is!

Ron

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, LA (KSLA) - A "high-ranking Pentagon official" has confirmed to CBS News that four sets of remains have been recovered from the crash of a Barksdale AFB B-52 off the coast of Guam.

The information comes from CBS Pentagon Correspondent David Martin. According to Martin's source within the Pentagon, no survivors are expected.

However, Lt. John Griffin with Anderson Air Force Base on the island said a "search and rescue operation is still on-going, the key word being rescue."

I'm glad someone is still optimistic but it doesn't look good...

Did they release the crew names yet? Someone I know is a 1st Lt. WSO on B-52s, forward deployed to Guam....

Jumpshot724 wrote:Did they release the crew names yet? Someone I know is a 1st Lt. WSO on B-52s, forward deployed to Guam....

Only name I've seen so far is an O-6.

There are no WSO types on B-52 aircraft.

At the McChord Air Expo on Saturday the F-18 Demo had to shorten his performance do to a hydraulic malfunction while doing a high speed pass and the Thunderbirds were delayed for 30 min. because the # 2 jet had some problems. They ended up taking one of the backup jets. Everything went fine for the Sunday Show.

At least 2 dead, USAF confirms.

R.i.P.

I was fearing that fatalities would be involved in this crash.

News update 3 airmen are dead.

Jumpshot724 wrote:
Did they release the crew names yet? Someone I know is a 1st Lt. WSO on B-52s, forward deployed to Guam....


Only name I've seen so far is an O-6.

There are no WSO types on B-52 aircraft.

Well whatever the designation is but that's not important now. Anyway he's ok, he returned back to Barksdale the second week in July

7/23/2008 - ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam (AFPN) -- Air Force officials here determined July 23 that none of the six crewmembers survived the B-52 Stratofortress crash July 21 off Guam's northwest coast.

Search and rescue teams have now shifted their focus from rescue operations to recovery of the aircrew.

The joint civilian and military rescue teams recovered the bodies of two aircrew members July 21, one of whom has been identified as Maj. Christopher Cooper. The identity of the second crewmember is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. Air Force forensic analysis specialists also are working toward identifying additional remains recovered.

The aircrew was stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and was deployed here with the 20th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron as part of the Defense Department's continuous bomber presence mission in the Pacific.

"Losing this bomber crew has been a tragedy felt by everyone here and across the Air Force," said Brig. Gen. Douglas H. Owens, the 36th Wing commander. "Our deepest sympathies and prayers are with the families of these Airmen as we continue to support them during this difficult time."

The scope of the search has been a massive cooperative effort with the Coast Guard, Navy, Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Guam Fire and Rescue and Police Department covering a 7,000-square mile area, General Owens said.

"I extend our sincerest gratitude to the men and women involved with this effort," the general said. "We are truly grateful for the passion and professionalism they continue to put into the recovery operations."

The aircraft was reported missing at approximately 10 a.m. July 21. The bomber was flying a training mission and was scheduled to perform a flyover for Guam's Liberation Day parade in Hagatna.

A board of officers is investigating the accident.

The names of all six have been released... to include five crew members and a flight surgeon onboard. As mentioned in the previous post, the USAF has confirmed they have perished and no further rescue operations.

GOD BLESS THEM.

RIP!

Ron

I can't believe they're dead.