Flights Resume at Edwards Week After B-52 Crash

Flight test operations at Edwards Air Force Base resumed on June 22, a week after a devastating B-52H Stratofortress crash that killed eight crew members and temporarily closed the base’s airfield.

Base spokesman Chase Kohler said in an email to Air & Space Forces Magazine that U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School operations also resumed June 22. The airfield, which was closed following the fiery B-52 crash, reopened June 18.

The safety investigation into the crash is ongoing, Kohler said, but the base does not expect that investigation to lead to any restrictions on flight operations.

The B-52, which had the tail number 60-0061 and flew under the call sign Torch 11, was meant to conduct a test sortie June 15 in support of the bomber’s radar modernization program. Immediately after takeoff, the bomber crashed and was swiftly engulfed in flames. The deputy commander of the 412th Test Wing at Edwards, Col. James Hayes, said it was immediately clear the crash was not survivable.

An Air Force official told Air & Space Forces Magazine there are no flight restrictions on the 75 remaining B-52H bombers.

The eight crew aboard were a mix of Active-Duty Airmen, contractors, and an Air Force civilian employee. Their remains were flown to Dover Air Force Base, Del., on June 19 for respectful confirmation of their identities and preparation for funeral arrangements.

Across the Air Force, Boeing and the entire B-52 community, tributes have poured out for the eight crew members. Kohler said that more than 700 people gathered at Edwards’ chapel on June 17, where they lit candles in honor of the crew who died.

Kohler said that plans for a broader, base-wide memorial are in the works and will be announced in the next two days. 

The 307th Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, one of the Air Force’s B-52 bases, also set up a temporary memorial consisting of eight candles, a standing display of white flowers, and a B-52 helmet.

The crew members who died were:

Air Force Reserve Col. Gregory Watson, a weapon systems officer and Boeing contractor
Lt. Col. Gabriel Estrella, a weapon systems officer
retired Lt. Col. Miles Middleton, a pilot and Boeing contractor
Maj. Alexander Davis, a weapon systems officer
Maj. Robert Dee, a pilot; Maj. Brad Hovey, a pilot
Jeromy Smith, a flight test engineer for the Air Force
Christopher Rischar, a flight test engineer and contractor with JT4