Investigation into deadly B-52 bomber crash could take months, US officials say

The investigation into a US air force bomber’s deadly crash during a test flight at a California base on Monday could take up to six months to complete, officials said. The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, carrying eight people, crashed in a fiery explosion that sent up thick plumes of smoke at the Edwards air force base in the Mojave desert, about 100 miles (161km) north-east of Los Angeles. The bomber made a sharp right after taking off and then a near 180-degree turn before it plummeted about 5,056ft (1,541m) per minute onto another runway – nearly 10 times as fast as a plane normally descends when preparing to land, according to flight tracking data from AirNav Systems. There were no survivors onboard. The victims, who included Boeing employees, government workers, military personnel and civilian contractors, have not been publicly identified. The airfield remained closed on Tuesday. Crews were making the crash site safe for search and recovery teams to enter, after fires flared up overnight, said Mike Paoli, a spokesperson for the 412 Test Wing at Edwards. The way the B-52 crashed so quickly after takeoff without getting very high or going far makes aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti suspect some kind of flight control malfunction. It’s possible the controls were rigged wrong after maintenance, he said, or a catastrophic engine problem or a failure of a piece of equipment that was being tested. “I think it was definitely a controllability issue. …