# B-52 crash question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 15, 2026, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-crash-question/1030919 "2026-06-15T19:50:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2026, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-crash-question/1030919/1 "2026-06-15T19:51:00Z")
What model of B-52 just crashed at Edwards AFB today right after takeoff? ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2026, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-crash-question/1030919/2 "2026-06-15T20:04:33Z")
I think you mean which variant. It was probably a B-52H assigned to the 419th Test Squadron based at Edwards. I haven’t seen it reported anywhere, that is just speculation based on the units assigned to Edwards. ETA: This article confirms that the currently flown version is the B-52H [B-52 bomber crashes shortly after takeoff at California’s Edwards Air Force Base, military says | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/15/us/b-52-crash-edwards-california) ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2026, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-crash-question/1030919/3 "2026-06-15T20:28:51Z")
Current USAF inventory is 100% H models. They retired the last G in 2013. [https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/467809/final-b-52g-eliminated-under-new-start/](https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/467809/final-b-52g-eliminated-under-new-start/) Of any of the earlier models, only the D was in service within my lifetime, including a lot of bombs dropped in Viet Nam, but they retired in 1983. > **[40 Years ago the USAF retired the last B-52D, the BUFF model used to bomb...](https://theaviationgeekclub.com/40-years-ago-the-usaf-retired-the-last-b-52d-the-buff-model-used-to-bomb-north-vietnamese-targets-during-christmas-bombing-operation-linebacker-ii/)** > > 40 Years ago the USAF retired the last B-52D, the BUFF model used to bomb North Vietnamese targets during Operation Linebacker II > The last B-52D was retired in October, 1983. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2026, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-crash-question/1030919/4 "2026-06-15T20:31:12Z")
It is this specific plane > **[This Is What The B-52's New Radar Looks Like](https://www.twz.com/air/this-is-what-the-b-52s-new-radar-looks-like)** > > The B-52's new AN/APQ-188 active electronically scanned array radar is critical to the bomber's future relevance. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2026, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-crash-question/1030919/5 "2026-06-15T20:32:38Z")
What about the B-52Js? Are there still none? I thought they were all suppose to be upgraded to J by 2030? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2026, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-crash-question/1030919/6 "2026-06-15T20:34:13Z")
The J is still in development. I suppose flying out of Edwards (which is an Air Force Materiel Command flight testing base), it could have been modded (partially, at least) to J standards (especially if what @Darren_Garrison cited is accurate; that’s the J model radar upgrade). I don’t see a definitive connection between the upgrade article and the crash, which would be specifying the serial number or tail number of the A/C in question, but I’m willing to guess that the incident A/C is the same as the upgrade article one. Based at Edwards for a months-long integration testing campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2026, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-crash-question/1030919/7 "2026-06-15T20:34:25Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > What about the B-52Js? Are there still none? > I thought they were all suppose to be upgraded to J by 2030? From the article I just linked: > The new radar is just one facet of the comprehensive upgrade program now in development for the B-52 that will end in the jet receiving the B-52J designation. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2026, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-crash-question/1030919/8 "2026-06-15T20:36:36Z")
Your post wasn’t there when I was typing. But thanks for the article. It looks like probably none are yet designated J. They might not make their goal or even come close to making it. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2026, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-crash-question/1030919/9 "2026-06-15T20:40:19Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > especially if what @Darren_Garrison cited is accurate That page was linked in the page I linked in the aviation omnibus thread > News of the crash first emerged in a post on the unofficial Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook group. That post said the aircraft in question was tail number 061, but this is currently unconfirmed. While its status is unclear, this particular B-52 was the first to receive a new AN/APQ-188 active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar, which is one part of a much larger modernization effort for the entire fleet of these bombers. (Which I found by googling news after seeing a Facebook post about it.) ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2026, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-crash-question/1030919/10 "2026-06-15T20:42:35Z")
Alright, I’m convinced. Their testbed bird for the J model radar upgrade has gone down. I hope the crew got out. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2026, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-crash-question/1030919/11 "2026-06-15T21:46:10Z")
Just asking because I worked on the D model when I was a Junior Birdman back in the late 70’s, and wondered what the current buff was up to. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2026, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-crash-question/1030919/12 "2026-06-16T11:06:07Z")
FWIW, the H models, the last factory models, were produced from the tail end of 1960 through 1962. So Hs were out there when you were in; you just had the luck to draw the oldest of the oldies, not the newest of the soon to be oldies. Everything about B-52s since 1962 (IOW the last 64 (!) years) has been about parking the Gs and earlier and slowly, eternally ship-of-Theseus upgrading the Hs again and again and again. While, so far, retaining the H designation. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2026, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-crash-question/1030919/13 "2026-06-16T11:33:07Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > I hope the crew got out. News outlets are reporting that all 8 crew members were killed. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2026, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-crash-question/1030919/14 "2026-06-16T12:24:36Z")
A standard B-52 cockpit carries 6 people. All on ejection seats. Two of which fire downward out the bottom of the fuselage. Any additional crew members would need to a) wear a parachute, and b) walk / clamber to an exterior hatch, open it, jump out, and pull their ripcord. None of that is compatible with escaping an airplane out of control close to the ground.