B-1 bomber crashes in South Dakota during a training mission; all crew members escape unharmed
When it crashed, the Ellsworth Air Force Base-based B-1 Lancer bomber was trying to land.
According to a news statement from the facility, a B-1 Lancer bomber assigned to Ellsworth Air Force facility in South Dakota crashed during a training mission on Thursday afternoon.
Around 5:50 p.m., the aircraft crashed while attempting to land on the site.
The base reports that all four crew members who were on board at the time of the incident safely ejected. They did not provide any more information about their problems.
A board of officers will be looking into the accident’s cause, according to the base.
The Associated Press reported that at the time of the crash, low clouds, cold temperatures, and poor visibility were reported by automated weather reporting equipment that was documenting airport conditions.
According to the Air Force, the B-1 Lancer bomber is a “very versatile, multi-mission weapon system” that can “track, target, and engage moving vehicles as well as self-targeting and terrain-following mode.”
According to its description on the USAF website, the aircraft is “the backbone of America’s long-range bomber force” and carries the heaviest conventional payload of both guided and unguided weapons in the Air Force inventory.
Less than 60 of the 100 that were initially constructed are still in use at Ellsworth and Dyess Air Force Base in Texas, according to the AP.
