B-2 Stealth bomber crashes on Guam

1prophet

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
5,313
534
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Stealth bomber crashes on Guam

HAGATNA, Guam - A B-2 stealth bomber crashed at an air base on Guam on Saturday but both pilots ejected safely and were in good condition, the Air Force said.

"They have been evaluated by medical authorities and are in good condition," the military said in a statement. An Air Force spokeswoman was not immediately available for further details.

Thick black smoke could be seen billowing from the wreckage at Andersen Air Force Base, said Geanne Ward, a resident in the northern village of Yigo who was on the base visiting her husband.

Ward said she didn't witness the crash but noticed a rising plume of smoke behind the base's air control tower.

She said crowds began to gather as emergency vehicles arrived Saturday morning local time.

"Everybody was on their cell phones, and the first thing everyone wanted to know was did the pilots make it out in time," she said.

A board of officers will investigate the accident.

Each B-2 bomber costs about $1.2 billion to build. All 21 stealth bombers are based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri but the Air Force has been rotating several of them along with B-1 and B-52 bombers through Guam since 2004.

The rotations are designed to boost the U.S. security presence in the Asia-Pacific region while other U.S. forces are diverted to fight in the Middle East.

The accident occurred 11 days after a Navy plane crashed into the ocean about 20 miles northeast of Guam's Ritidian Point. Four aircrew members ejected from the EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft and were rescued by helicopter.

Guam is a U.S. territory 3,700 miles southwest of Hawaii.

Pilots are safe but that was one expensive crash.

 

LegendKiller

Lifer
Mar 5, 2001
18,256
68
86
Ron Paul would have saved it had he been president.

In all seriousness, that sucks. Such an amazing plane.
 

LegendKiller

Lifer
Mar 5, 2001
18,256
68
86
Originally posted by: Noobtastic
I would have rather seen the plane survive.


hey, ya know it's true...

Yeah, because 2 lives are worth less than a plane. Typical RPB. I don't your perspective is true. Don't lump me in the same category as yourself.
 

FoBoT

No Lifer
Apr 30, 2001
63,089
12
76
fobot.com
w0w, i live about 25 miles west of whiteman, my wife said one of our neighbors is a b-2 pilot, every now and then they fly over our neighborhood
 

jpeyton

Moderator in SFF, Notebooks, Pre-Built/Barebones
Moderator
Aug 23, 2003
25,375
142
116
Glad the taxpayer got our monies worth on that investment :roll:

Military procurement strikes again.
 

bamacre

Lifer
Jul 1, 2004
21,030
2
61
Originally posted by: LegendKiller
Ron Paul would have saved it had he been president.

In all seriousness, that sucks. Such an amazing plane.

WTF does this have to do with Paul? Sheesh! :roll:
 

ManSnake

Diamond Member
Oct 26, 2000
4,749
1
0
If it were pilot error, then those two pilots should be jailed. Destrying $1.2 billion worth of public property is a crime!
 

LegendKiller

Lifer
Mar 5, 2001
18,256
68
86
Originally posted by: bamacre
Originally posted by: LegendKiller
Ron Paul would have saved it had he been president.

In all seriousness, that sucks. Such an amazing plane.

WTF does this have to do with Paul? Sheesh! :roll:

Because Ron Paul can fix everything, according to PC Surgeon.
 

charrison

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
17,033
1
81
Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone
That is one staggeringly expensive airframe. I'm glad the crew survived, in any event.

I beleive there was talk a few year ago about another production run of b-2 for the low, low cost of 500M a copy.
 

Robor

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
16,979
0
76
Hope everyone on board and on the ground were safe. Casual talk about $$ when it involves our (and other) personal is sickening.
 

ProfJohn

Lifer
Jul 28, 2006
18,251
8
0
It is not about how much they cost, it is about how much they are worth.

If cost was the only factor then everyone would be driving KIAs.
 

Robor

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
16,979
0
76
Originally posted by: ProfJohn
It is not about how much they cost, it is about how much they are worth.

If cost was the only factor then everyone would be driving KIAs.

I hope that was sarcasm. Hard to tell sometimes...

Edit: Referring to the latter
 

CycloWizard

Lifer
Sep 10, 2001
12,348
1
81
Originally posted by: jpeyton
Glad the taxpayer got our monies worth on that investment :roll:

Military procurement strikes again.
These planes are pretty old (first one delivered in 1993) and have flown tens of thousands of hours, killing untold numbers of people (for good or evil I won't argue). How do you put a dollar value on this kind of plane? Were you expecting us to eventually sell them to North Korea at a profit?
 

jpeyton

Moderator in SFF, Notebooks, Pre-Built/Barebones
Moderator
Aug 23, 2003
25,375
142
116
Originally posted by: CycloWizard
have flown tens of thousands of hours
Where did you find figures on mission flight hours? I was looking for some figures myself.

TIA for the link.
 

CycloWizard

Lifer
Sep 10, 2001
12,348
1
81
Originally posted by: jpeyton
Where did you find figures on mission flight hours? I was looking for some figures myself.

TIA for the link.
At least 12 pilots have >1000 hours (text). The number of mission hours is likely classified, but I can tell you anecdotally that they are flying a good chunk of the time. Living in Missouri now, I see them out and about every once in a while, and I used to see them landing every so often at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio when I worked there.
 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
It must be a bit weird taking off from the US, dropping some bombs in Iraq, and then back to bed in the US later on.

I was surprised how damn slow these things are. I looked at their speeds on wikipedia. I guess they have a pretty good range, but still.
 

AnitaPeterson

Diamond Member
Apr 24, 2001
5,940
387
126
["99 beer bottles" song]
21 B2 bombers on service, 21 B2 bombers.... oops!
20 B2 bombers in service...
[/"99 beer bottles" song]
 

halik

Lifer
Oct 10, 2000
25,696
1
0
Originally posted by: charrison
Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone
That is one staggeringly expensive airframe. I'm glad the crew survived, in any event.

I beleive there was talk a few year ago about another production run of b-2 for the low, low cost of 500M a copy.

Yeah IIRC the $2bil price tag was from $(cost of the entire project)/(units made)... actuall cost of producing another batch should be a lot less (parts, materials and labor)
 

MadRat

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
11,909
228
106
In 1990 there was a problem with the actuator remote terminal (ART) system. Link

Then again the pilots may have forgot to take it out of war mode where the split ailerons are deactivated to achieve the ultimate stealth signature possible and all steering is done with differential increments in thrust between the engines.
 

lupi

Lifer
Apr 8, 2001
32,539
260
126
Originally posted by: LegendKiller
Originally posted by: Noobtastic
I would have rather seen the plane survive.


hey, ya know it's true...

Yeah, because 2 lives are worth less than a plane. Typical RPB. I don't your perspective is true. Don't lump me in the same category as yourself.

Look at how much the goverment would be paying the next of kin before answering that question.
 

jpeyton

Moderator in SFF, Notebooks, Pre-Built/Barebones
Moderator
Aug 23, 2003
25,375
142
116
Originally posted by: lupi
Originally posted by: LegendKiller
Originally posted by: Noobtastic
I would have rather seen the plane survive.


hey, ya know it's true...

Yeah, because 2 lives are worth less than a plane. Typical RPB. I don't your perspective is true. Don't lump me in the same category as yourself.

Look at how much the goverment would be paying the next of kin before answering that question.
It's $500,000, I believe. That's what it is for the Army anyways.

And that is a huge increase from how much they paid before the war in Iraq.