{"id":64,"date":"2025-05-23T17:52:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T17:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/?p=64"},"modified":"2025-05-23T17:52:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T17:52:14","slug":"2008-andersen-air-force-base-b-2-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/?p=64","title":{"rendered":"2008 Andersen Air Force Base B-2 accident"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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On 23 February 2008,\u00a0Spirit of Kansas<\/em>, a\u00a0B-2 Spirit\u00a0stealth bomber of the\u00a0United States Air Force, crashed on the runway moments after takeoff from\u00a0Andersen Air Force Base\u00a0in\u00a0Guam. The aircraft was destroyed, but both crew members successfully\u00a0ejected.[1][2]<\/sup>\u00a0The accident marked the first operational loss of a B\u20112 bomber, and as of 2024\u00a0remains one of two lost B-2s since another damaged B-2 had to be retired due to repair costs after an on-board fire.[3]<\/sup>\u00a0With an estimated loss of\u00a0US$1.4 billion, considering only the cost of the aircraft, it was also the most expensive aircraft crash in history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On 23 February 2008, a B\u20112 crashed on the runway shortly after takeoff from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.[1]<\/sup>\u00a0The crash of the\u00a0Spirit of Kansas<\/em>,\u00a089-0127<\/em>, which had been operated by the\u00a0393rd Bomb Squadron,\u00a0509th Bomb Wing,\u00a0Whiteman Air Force Base,\u00a0Missouri, and had logged 5,100 flight hours,[6]<\/sup>\u00a0was the first crash of a B\u20112.[7]<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two-officer crew (Major Ryan Link and Captain Justin Grieve) were unable to control the bomber, and as one of its wingtips made contact with the ground, they ejected and survived the crash. The aircraft was destroyed, a\u00a0total loss\u00a0estimated at US$1.4 billion, equivalent to around $1.96\u00a0billion in 2023.[8][9][10]<\/sup>

According to the\u00a0Air Force Times<\/em>, a private-industry magazine, no munitions were on board.[11]<\/sup>\u00a0The Air Combat Command accident board report states that “classified material” had been loaded onto the bomber the morning the aircraft was returning to Whiteman Air Force Base “after a four-month deployment in support of\u00a0Pacific Air Forces’\u00a0continuous bomber presence.”[9]<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Close-up view of the forward fuselage after the fire was extinguished<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At Guam Naval Hospital, one pilot was evaluated and released, and the second was hospitalized. A B\u20112 already in the air was called back to Andersen after the crash, where it and the other B\u20112s were grounded until the initial investigation into the crash was complete. Six\u00a0Boeing B\u201152s\u00a0of the\u00a096th Bomb Squadron,\u00a02nd Bomb Wing\u00a0at\u00a0Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, were deployed to replace the B\u20112s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The commander of the 509th Bomb Wing, Brig. Gen.\u00a0Garrett Harencak\u00a0temporarily suspended flying operations for all 20 remaining B\u20112s to review procedures. Harencak termed the suspension a “safety pause” and stated that the B\u20112s would resume flying if called upon for immediate operations.[13]<\/sup>\u00a0The B\u20112 fleet returned to flight status on 15 April 2008<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The findings of the investigation stated that the B\u20112 crashed after “heavy, lashing rains” caused moisture to enter skin-flush\u00a0air-data sensors. The data from the sensors are used to calculate numerous factors including airspeed and altitude. Because three pressure transducers failed to function[9]<\/sup>\u2014attributable to condensation inside devices, not a maintenance error\u2014the flight-control computers calculated inaccurate aircraft\u00a0angle of attack\u00a0and airspeed. Incorrect airspeed data on cockpit displays led to the aircraft\u00a0rotating\u00a0at 12\u00a0knots\u00a0(22\u00a0km\/h; 14\u00a0mph) slower than indicated. After the wheels lifted from the runway, which caused the flight control system to switch to different\u00a0control laws, the erroneously-sensed negative angle of attack caused the computers to inject a sudden, 1.6\u00a0g<\/em>\u00a0(16\u00a0m\/s2<\/sup>), uncommanded 30-degree pitch-up maneuver. The combination of slow lift-off speed and the extreme angle of attack, with attendant\u00a0drag, resulted in an unrecoverable\u00a0stall,\u00a0yaw, and descent. Both crew members successfully ejected from the aircraft soon after the left wing tip started to gouge the ground alongside the runway. The aircraft hit the ground, tumbled, and burned after its fuel ignited<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 23 February 2008,\u00a0Spirit of Kansas, a\u00a0B-2 Spirit\u00a0stealth bomber of the\u00a0United States Air Force, crashed on the runway moments after takeoff from\u00a0Andersen Air Force Base\u00a0in\u00a0Guam. The aircraft was destroyed, but … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68,"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions\/68"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/66"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}