Oh now that was expensive.

[cameraman]

A B2 bomber crashed on the runway and burned to the ground in Guam.
The crew got out okay.

[oddlycalm]

Good the crew got out. :thumbup:

The downside is that when you lose a $1.2 billion piece of equipment, even if the cause is obvious, there are going to be some real tight lips all the way down the chain of command. :(

oc

[Insomniac]

What was it doing on the ground in Guam? I thought it only operated from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.

[cameraman]

It seems it was based there.


A B-2 stealth bomber plunged to the ground shortly after taking off from an air base in Guam on Saturday, the first time one crashed, but both pilots ejected safely, Air Force officials said.

The aircraft was taking off with three others on their last flight out of Guam after a four-month deployment, part of a continuous U.S. bomber presence in the western Pacific. After the crash, the other three bombers were being kept on Guam, said Maj. Eric Hilliard at Hickham Air Force Base in Hawaii.

At least one B-2 bomber had taken off safely from Andersen Air Force Base but was brought back when another aircraft plunged to the ground.


All 21 stealth bombers are based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, but the Air Force has been rotating several of them through Guam since 2004, along with B-1 and B-52 bombers.

[Insomniac]

It seems it was based there.

For some reason I thought they were always to fly in and out of that base only. Not sure where I got that idea, but they clearly had no problem with it being on the ground outside of the U.S.

[cameraman]

The Territory of Guam, is an island in the Western Pacific Ocean and is an organized unincorporated territory of the United States.