[Regnum] A Rockwell B-1B Lancer strategic bomber crashed in South Dakota on January 4, the Associated Press (AP) reported, citing a statement from the US Air Force.“A B-1 Lancer crashed today at approximately 17:50 (January 5 at 2:50 Moscow time) while trying to land on the installation. At the time of the disaster, he was on a training flight. There were four crew members on board. All four ejected safely,” the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base said in a statement.
It is noted that at the time of the incident the state had poor visibility, low clouds and sub-zero temperatures.
The military command initiated an investigation into the causes of the incident.
ABOUT THE BOMBER
The supersonic strategic bomber B-1 Lancer was developed as a carrier of nuclear weapons to replace the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress by Rockwell International in the 70-80s of the last century. It entered service with the US Air Force in July 1985, but in the 1990s the developers decided to equip the model with conventional weapons.
Today there are three modifications of the bomber. B-1A, B-1B and B-1R, which is still under development. It was the B-1B Lancer that crashed in South Dakota, the distinctive feature of which was the introduction of the ACES II ejection seat system, allowing each crew member to escape separately.
Fewer than 60 of the 100 B-1B bombers remain in service at Dyess Air Force Base in Texas and Ellsworth Air Force Base.
In the spring of 2021, US authorities announced plans to completely phase out the use of the B-1 Lancer by 2036.
RECENT INCIDENTS INVOLVING US AIR FORCE AIRCRAFT
Last year, during a Korean-American exercise on the morning of December 11, an American F-16 fighter jet crashed while taking off from the Osan base. It was clarified that the pilot managed to escape in an emergency.
Before this, at the end of November, an American Osprey tiltrotor crashed into the sea near Kanoshima Prefecture in Japan. The crash site was reported to be about 2 to 4 kilometers from Yakushima Airport. Later, Japanese rescuers discovered the wreckage of a tiltrotor that had crashed into the sea . Then a helicopter heading to the search site noticed from the sky what appeared to be the wreckage of an Osprey. Shortly afterwards, Japanese Coast Guard divers discovered the remains of five crew members at the crash site.
Before this, an American reconnaissance plane ended up in the water off the coast of Hawaii after skidding off the runway. Then the military plane was partially in the water. There were nine people on board, all of them received minor injuries and were able to make it to shore.
The incident occurred with a Boeing P8 Poseidon aircraft intended for surveillance and patrol.
In addition, on November 10, an aircraft crashed during a training flight over the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The flight of the American military was carried out solely for training purposes; there were no indications of hostile actions.
It is believed that the crash occurred during a “routine refueling” in the air.
Later, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that five US military personnel were killed as a result of the emergency.
In April 2023, two US Air Force helicopters crashed near the village of Healy in the US state of Alaska. Each AH-64 Apache carried two people on board during the training mission. Three US military personnel were killed as a result of the incident.
THE PROBLEM OF PILOT QUALIFICATIONS
In early December, the American publication The National Interest wrote that the training of military pilots poses a threat to the security of the United States.
“In the absence of strict standards, the combat readiness of the US Air Force has fallen to an all-time low. At the same time, the generals are only concerned with how to divert public attention from these problems,” the authors of the material wrote.
The article noted the “unprecedented low qualifications of US Air Force military pilots.”
Moreover, American Air Force General Mark Kelly stated on September 26, 2022 that the depletion and overload of the US Air Force fighter fleet has become a serious problem. He explained that the US Air Force has 48 fighter squadrons and another nine attack squadrons, which consist of legacy A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft. At the same time, the command assigns tasks to military personnel that require 60 squadrons to complete. According to Kelly, it is not surprising that combat vehicles are literally exhausted from overload.