RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – A B-1 bomber belonging to the 28th Bomb Wing crashed about 5:30 p.m. Thursday as it was landing at Ellsworth Air Force Base.
According to a release from the Air Force, the four crew members on the bomber were able to safely eject. The Air Force did not say if any crew members were injured.
The bomber, the Air Force said, was on a training mission when it crashed.
Details on the crash will not be released until a board of officers completes its investigation.
Ellsworth is home to two squadrons of B-1 Lancer bombers.
There have been several B-1 bombers from Ellsworth that have crashed since they were first stationed at the base in 1987.
- November 1988, a B-1 crashed on landing at the base. The crew ejected but were injured. Pilot error was reportedly the cause.
- In September 1997, a B-1 crashed during a training mission in Montana, over the Powder River Training Range. Four people died in that crash. As with the 1988 crash, the Air Force determined pilot error was the cause.
- December 2001, a B-1 crashed after taking off from the island Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. The bomber was enroute to a combat mission over Afghanistan. The crew safely ejected and was picked up by a Navy ship. The cause of this crash was never determined or released.
- August 2013, another bomber crashed in Montana at the training range. In this crash, the crew was able to safely eject.
Throughout the years, there have been numerous other serious incidents involving the bombers, including a mid-air collision between a B-1 and a refueling tanker in the early 1990s. Both planes were able to safely return to the base. Also, in September 2005, an Ellsworth B-1 landing at Andersen AFB, Guam, caught fire while taxiing and was severely damaged.
There have been five B-1 crashes involving planes from Dyess AFB, Texas. The first crash was of a prototype bomber in 1984.
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