A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress crashed at Edwards Air Force Base on June 15, 2026, shortly after takeoff, claiming the lives of all eight people on board — military personnel, government civilians, and Boeing contractors supporting the B-52 Radar Modernization Program.
The aircraft, tail number 60-0061, was the first and only B-52 ever fitted with the new AN/APQ-188 AESA radar system, a critical component of the Air Force's $48.6 billion B-52J modernization program.
In this video, former F-15E combat pilot and Thunderbird Ryan "Max Afterburner" Bodenheimer breaks down the B-52H's flight control architecture, the history of B-52 crashes including Czar 52 in 1994 and RAIDR 21 in Guam in 2008, and what investigators will be looking for in the wreckage. This is the most consequential American test aviation loss in a generation — and the investigation will shape the future of U.S. global strike capability for decades.
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