Pentagon releases names of 8 people killed in B-52 plane crash at California Air Force base
The military on Wednesday released the names of the eight people who were killed this week when a B-52 bomber crashed shortly after takeoff from Edwards Air Force Base in California.
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They are: Col. Gregory Watson, 53; Lt. Col. Gabriel Estrella, 40; Retired Lt. Col. Miles Middleton, 50; Maj. Alexander Davis, 34; Maj. Robert Dee, 40; Maj. Brad Hovey, 35; Flight test engineer Jeromy Smith, 32; and Flight test engineer Christopher Rischar, 41.
“The total number of aircrews on board was eight, including several flight test engineers who are essential to developmental test operations,” the 412th Test Wing of the Air Force, which oversees base operations, said in a statement before the names were unveiled.
Boeing, the manufacturer of the B-52 Stratofortress, confirmed in the aftermath of Monday’s catastrophic crash that two of its employees had been killed.
The name of Jeromy Smith, a civilian flight-test engineer for the Department of Defense, emerged on Tuesday. Four months before he was killed, Smith became a father for the second time.
“My husband just went back to work,” his widow, Lauren Smith, told NBC News. “He was there for just a week.”
Smith, who was also the father of a 2-year-old named Fletcher, had worked on projects at the base for 10 years, Lauren Smith said.
“We did not see this coming,” his wife of six years said.
Lauren Smith said Monday’s flight had originally been scheduled for Friday.
“They go through tons of safety things before they even take off,” she said. “And I know specifically on Friday they had — they were gonna fly on Friday, and they just kept pushing it back and pushing it back.”
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“And I don’t think that plane was ready to take off, and I’m so sad it did,” she said.
The Stratofortress, which is a long-range bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons, was on a “routine test mission” when it suddenly went down, Air Force Col. James Hayes told reporters Monday.
“Given the swiftness of the crash after departure, the incident was declared unsurvivable,” officials said in a statement.
But they declined to speculate on what could have caused the catastrophic crash.
“The Accident Investigation Board process has formally commenced; these types of investigations can take up to six months for initial conclusions on the cause of the crash,” the officials said.
Nicknamed “the Buff,” for Big Ugly Fat Fellow, the B-52 been the go-to bomber for the U.S. military since 1955, according to Air Force Global Strike Command.
Each plane costs $84 million and is manned by a crew of five, including an aircraft commander, a pilot, a radar navigator, a navigator and an electronic warfare officer.
Edwards Air Force Base is located in the Mojave Desert, about 100 miles north of Los Angeles.
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