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mrandish 47 minutes ago [-]
I hope the crew are okay, but from the look of the aftermath and the fact there's no mention of the crew yet, I assume not all survived. Shortly after takeoff is one of the most challenging times for an incident. Low altitude, low-speed and full fuel means things can go very bad, very fast.
throwaway85825 20 minutes ago [-]
B-52 crew has to bail out, no ejection option.
Jtsummers 18 minutes ago [-]
It has an ejection system, but some go up and some go down depending on their position in the aircraft. The two navigator seats eject downwards, they would not have had a chance. Given when the accident occurred (just after takeoff), and that there's not yet been any report on the crew, it's unlikely the other crew managed to eject.
yieldcrv 39 minutes ago [-]
As a betting man… this is not survivable
superjan 18 minutes ago [-]
Kindly request if you keep your guess to yourself. We can all read and consider likely outcomes.
Is this after cleanup? There's almost zero wreckage and if it was at takeoff it shouldn't have enough speed or descent angle to atomize.
Jtsummers 39 minutes ago [-]
Almost certainly no cleanup before that photo was taken. The accident occurred at 1120, and the article was "last updated" at 1302, 1 hour 42 minutes is not enough time to cleanup a site like that when they still have to do the accident investigation.
It would likely have had full fuel tanks so that's probably why we can see little debris.
russdill 40 minutes ago [-]
There was a post crash fire, and that would be a lot of fuel burning.
irthomasthomas 25 minutes ago [-]
Look at the fairfield airshow crash, there nothing left but a bit of the tail.
verzali 20 minutes ago [-]
F-18 went down the other day as well.
optimalsolver 60 minutes ago [-]
Video of the 1994 B-52 crash at Fairchild Air Force Base:
I don't understand the fascination with watching people die. I'd rather not, thanks.
iamtheworstdev 24 seconds ago [-]
as a pilot - it's a reminder that if the pros can make a mistake then I absolutely can and I better not take anything for granted when I fly.
dmvjs 1 hours ago [-]
why present tense?
Jtsummers 1 hours ago [-]
It's common in news headlines when an event is very recent or a story is still developing. A report about, say, the US bombing a previously unreported site in Iran several weeks ago would be in the past tense "US bombed <site> in Iran". When the US bombs Iran today, it'll be titled "US bombs <site> in Iran".
ranger_danger 1 hours ago [-]
Hopefully not a broken arrow situation.
qq66 1 hours ago [-]
They stopped making the B-52 64 years ago. The US military is depending on planes that are simply too old and need to be refreshed.
runjake 48 minutes ago [-]
I worked on B-52s and other aircraft. Their systems (bomb/nav/comm/etc) were refreshed many times and the airframes inspected and improved regularly.
The reason B-52s are still around is because they are combat-effective and cost-effective relative to other aircraft, such as the B-1 and B-2 (both of which I also worked on). Whatever replaces the B-52 will have to be something new and something cost-effective. I don't think that currently exists.
The B-1 has only been combat/cost effective in more recent years after an extended rough patch spanning decades -- actually, I'm not even sure it's cost-effective. The B-2 has always been combat-effective, but was never cost-effective to operate or maintain.
giantg2 27 minutes ago [-]
Cost-effective might not be the best description. If the B2 is able to target SAMs with very low losses, then it could still be cost-effective compared to significant losses of other airframes and crews.
runjake 7 minutes ago [-]
Cost-effective is the best description. It doesn't have to be a totality. For total operation costs (training/missions/acquisition/maintenance/capabilites), the B-52 is cheaper by orders of magnitude.
The B-2 does have its place and is better suited for certain jobs, albeit at too high a cost. The B-21 is purported to lower that. We'll see.
Edit: Looks like current B-2 operational/maintenance costs are now down to only about 2x that of the B-52, which is an impressive reduction (no sarcasm).
throwaway85825 19 minutes ago [-]
If you have updated satellite imagery and can hit the SAM with a cruise missile you don't need the B2.
jonnybgood 3 minutes ago [-]
One does not simply take out a SAM system with a cruise missile, especially when that SAM system can also target the cruise missile. So how do you get a cruise missile to launch from the right spot where the SAM system can’t see it coming?
runjake 6 minutes ago [-]
Plot twist: some of the best precision cruise missiles are air-launched.
tonymet 27 minutes ago [-]
why can't they reproduce it like they do shelby kit cars?
Jtsummers 22 minutes ago [-]
None of the major defense contractors (new or old) would be interested in doing this unless they could greatly pad out their numbers. There's a lot more money (see F-35) in building out a new system and landing the huge maintenance contract for the first 10+ years associated with it. A B-52 clone would be financially great for USAF if it could be built at an appropriate price since they have the maintenance capability for that airframe already, but no one would sell them one at the right price.
blowsand 60 minutes ago [-]
Please do more research. They are most decidedly not “simply too old”. They have been “refreshed” many times over - from engines, to flight electronics, to targeting and comms systems, to airframe structures, to coffeemaker automation.
hk1337 52 minutes ago [-]
Sounds like a lot like ship of Theseus. The B-52 now is not not the same B-52 64 years ago.
> Similarly, the M4 or direct derivatives continuing to be the main rifle for the majority of infantry is also stupid.
Man this is so far off topic, but I would consider myself somewhat well educated and personally and professionally experienced on this topic, and I very much would love to know what problems you see with the M4A1 weapon system in 2026.
47 minutes ago [-]
t0mas88 57 minutes ago [-]
Planes don't age in the same way cars do. There is a maintenance schedule that inspects and replaces almost literally every component at some point. So the engines on these planes can be just a year old for example.
And the military has a tendency to also upgrade the avionics and capabilities at several points in the lifetime of a program. So there is a lot of tech in these planes that's much newer than 60 years old.
__patchbit__ 39 minutes ago [-]
Aged out weapons design is a flying target.
War profiteers say motherhood statements about the crew but don't care.
60 years of new weapons design opportunities was pocketed in pork by the politicians bought and paid for.
JumpCrisscross 1 hours ago [-]
> planes that are simply too old
Planes don’t really age like that, at least not if they’re serviced. They’re constantly being rebuilt and inspected.
The only reason airliner fleets churn as much as they do is fuel efficiency and maintenance standardization.
dpe82 37 minutes ago [-]
Nit: at some point you start getting metal fatigue issues (see Aloha Airlines Flight 243) but in general yes: fuel efficiency and fleet standardization.
Also airliners usually just become cargo planes for quite a long time before retirement. Eg. there's a bunch of DC-3s still being commercially operated. Jet engine noise regs killed a bunch of early jets, but older prop aircraft are still going strong.
JumpCrisscross 8 minutes ago [-]
> Nit: at some point you start getting metal fatigue issues
Good point. The B-52 doesn’t pressurize the whole fuselage. Just the crew compartment.
> airliners usually just become cargo planes for quite a long time before retirement
Out of curiosity, do they not pressurize the cargo hold?
mrhottakes 1 hours ago [-]
True, but the B-52s that are currently in operation are very much a Bomber of Theseus situation.
Jtsummers 1 hours ago [-]
Also true for most aircraft in the US military fleet that aren't of the most recent generation. Depot maintenance strips them down, and pretty much everything but the frame itself could have been replaced by this point for anything over 30-40 years of age. They also do form, fit, function for LRUs so that the a new LRU can be dropped in and connected to the existing aircraft as much as possible, allowing for more gradual changes over time.
bigfatkitten 58 minutes ago [-]
The USAF has been neglected for a long time. The service has seen reductions in both headcount and airframes with no gains in efficiency or effectiveness.
Too many types of aircraft to operate and maintain, with too few people to do it and too few available airframes to maintain a combat capability.
elevation 16 minutes ago [-]
A friend who served was assigned to fix broken planes quickly. He and his fellow mechanics could be punished for not being ready to make urgent repairs, so they maintained a stock of commonly used parts in the hangar.
One year, a congressional efficiency mandate required that AFBs return any parts that hadn't been issued in the previous (90 days?). Returning their stock just because it hadn't been needed in the last 12 weeks undermined their readiness requirements, so the staff found a way around this limitation: periodically discard qty 1 of any seldom-used part and order another one to show proof of need. The congressional anti-waste attempt only served to fill their dumpster.
Along with investigating airframe selections, it would be worthwhile to audit the branches for these kinds of perverse incentives, to hear from people at all levels about which policies are helpful and which cause needless waste.
mrguyorama 58 minutes ago [-]
The B-52 lives in an awkward niche. Bomb trucks over utterly unprotected airspace might just not be a thing anymore.
If that holds for the forseen future, the B-52 will not have a real successor.
Currently, it looks like non-precision bulk bombing is just obsolete.
We "depend" on the B-52 because it still works, and there's a lot of chance it shouldn't get a replacement.
Are there any other planes we "depend" on that are old but not being replaced? Our tanker fleet is old but we are looking to replace it. Maybe some transports are getting old? But they probably don't need a new design. EWACS is old but also seeing new systems being built.
wbl 51 minutes ago [-]
The B-52 has hands with the JASSM, ALCM, LRASM. No need to get close to pack a punch. Yeah a successor would likely be a LO blended wing body design, but the idea of cheap to operate big truck is fine.
It would likely have had full fuel tanks so that's probably why we can see little debris.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2OIxo00UeM
The reason B-52s are still around is because they are combat-effective and cost-effective relative to other aircraft, such as the B-1 and B-2 (both of which I also worked on). Whatever replaces the B-52 will have to be something new and something cost-effective. I don't think that currently exists.
The B-1 has only been combat/cost effective in more recent years after an extended rough patch spanning decades -- actually, I'm not even sure it's cost-effective. The B-2 has always been combat-effective, but was never cost-effective to operate or maintain.
The B-2 does have its place and is better suited for certain jobs, albeit at too high a cost. The B-21 is purported to lower that. We'll see.
Edit: Looks like current B-2 operational/maintenance costs are now down to only about 2x that of the B-52, which is an impressive reduction (no sarcasm).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbCeKNcr6Wk
Man this is so far off topic, but I would consider myself somewhat well educated and personally and professionally experienced on this topic, and I very much would love to know what problems you see with the M4A1 weapon system in 2026.
And the military has a tendency to also upgrade the avionics and capabilities at several points in the lifetime of a program. So there is a lot of tech in these planes that's much newer than 60 years old.
War profiteers say motherhood statements about the crew but don't care.
60 years of new weapons design opportunities was pocketed in pork by the politicians bought and paid for.
Planes don’t really age like that, at least not if they’re serviced. They’re constantly being rebuilt and inspected.
The only reason airliner fleets churn as much as they do is fuel efficiency and maintenance standardization.
Also airliners usually just become cargo planes for quite a long time before retirement. Eg. there's a bunch of DC-3s still being commercially operated. Jet engine noise regs killed a bunch of early jets, but older prop aircraft are still going strong.
Good point. The B-52 doesn’t pressurize the whole fuselage. Just the crew compartment.
> airliners usually just become cargo planes for quite a long time before retirement
Out of curiosity, do they not pressurize the cargo hold?
Too many types of aircraft to operate and maintain, with too few people to do it and too few available airframes to maintain a combat capability.
One year, a congressional efficiency mandate required that AFBs return any parts that hadn't been issued in the previous (90 days?). Returning their stock just because it hadn't been needed in the last 12 weeks undermined their readiness requirements, so the staff found a way around this limitation: periodically discard qty 1 of any seldom-used part and order another one to show proof of need. The congressional anti-waste attempt only served to fill their dumpster.
Along with investigating airframe selections, it would be worthwhile to audit the branches for these kinds of perverse incentives, to hear from people at all levels about which policies are helpful and which cause needless waste.
If that holds for the forseen future, the B-52 will not have a real successor.
Currently, it looks like non-precision bulk bombing is just obsolete.
We "depend" on the B-52 because it still works, and there's a lot of chance it shouldn't get a replacement.
Are there any other planes we "depend" on that are old but not being replaced? Our tanker fleet is old but we are looking to replace it. Maybe some transports are getting old? But they probably don't need a new design. EWACS is old but also seeing new systems being built.