A single-engine fire forced a B-52H Stratofortress bomber to make an emergency landing at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, early Feb. 23, the service confirmed Tuesday.
No airmen were injured in the incident, which occurred shortly before 1 a.m. local time. Minot firefighters extinguished the flames on base.
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“First and foremost, the 5th Bomb Wing is incredibly thankful that all our airmen made it home safely,” 5th Bomb Wing Commander Col. Daniel Hoadley told Air Force Times in an emailed statement. “I would like to recognize our outstanding base firefighters for their expeditious response.”
The incident is under investigation. Additional details, including the extent of the aircraft’s damage, were not immediately available Tuesday.
Considered the backbone of the service’s strategic bomber fleet, the B-52H began entering service in 1961. Each is manned by a five-person crew — two pilots, two weapon systems operators and an electronic warfare officer — and sports eight jet engines. The jets can carry a mix of nuclear and conventional weapons.
Seventy-six B-52s, including the one involved in last week’s incident, remain in the Air Force’s fleet at Minot and Barksdale AFB, Louisiana.
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The service is planning a $48.6 billion overhaul of its Stratofortresses — to be renamed the B-52J — that aims to retrofit the fleet with new engines, radars, avionics and other improvements intended to keep the Cold War-era bomber in service until around 2060.
The Air Force last reported a Class A mishap, or an incident involving a fatality, permanent disability, or damage greater than $2.5 million to an aircraft, involving a B-52 in fiscal year 2018. Three Class B mishaps — incidents involving a permanent partial disability, inpatient hospitality or damages greater than $60,000 — were reported in fiscal year 2020, according to Air Force Safety Center data current as of fiscal year 2021. The last fatality involving a B-52 occurred in 2008.
Courtney Mabeus-Brown is the senior reporter at Air Force Times. She is an award-winning journalist who previously covered the military for Navy Times and The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., where she first set foot on an aircraft carrier. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy and more.
