B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber Crash Video & Technical Report

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The crash on takeoff of a 509th Air Wing, Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber, February 23 operating at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, was caused by water in the aircraft's sensors, according to an Air Combat report issued, Thursday. Specifically, moisture in three port transducer units "distorted data introduced by a B-2 Spirit's air data system" which led to flawed information entering the bomber's flight control computers. The aircraft was reacting to inaccurate airspeed and a "perceived" negative angle of attack. This resulted in an "uncommanded 30 degree nose-high pitch-up on takeoff," according to the Air Force.

Major Ryan Link and Captain Justin Grieve, the aircraft's two pilots and the only two aboard were unable to regain control and safely ejected just as the aircraft stalled and mushed into the ground and its left wing impacted the ground. The $1.4 billion aircraft crashed just off the left side of the runway and exploded. It was the first-ever B-2 crash and followed 75,000 hours of loss-free service. Link and Grieve both suffered injuries during ejection, with Grieve suffering compression fractures to his spine.

The report points to the inaccurate readings as contributing factors, adding that ineffective communication of critical information about a technique used to remove moisture from the sensors also contributed. It's possible that all the maintenance crew had to do to avert the accident was turn on the pitot heat prior to performing air data calibrations. But the suggested technique was not part of checklist procedures.


Channel: Autos & Vehicles
Uploaded: June 6, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Author: AVweb

Length: 00:03:09
Rating: 4.71
Views: 397140

Tags: B2 B-2 stealth bomber spirit air force crash video guam avweb glenn pew airplane

Video Comments:
xela176 (September 19, 2008 at 3:04 am)
my dad was there and witnessed it,it was the moisture(sry 4 tkin long 2 respond)
A2ZNP1971K (September 20, 2008 at 5:55 am)
The delayed response is fine, and your dad is right. But, just to be clear, it wasn't a direct result of moisture in the air, it was an indirect result. The moist air led to accumulation of water in the transducer ports. The air data system on the B-2 has built-in safe-guards against this. What it does is to show an air data fault on the PFDs, which it did in this case (according to records), but, apparently, it was dismissed as a momentary glitch.
sen2k (September 1, 2008 at 8:43 pm)
U only get attacked if you do bad and unfair to others. Nobody is attacking for no reason except mental retards. If you do have no weaps nobody has any!
Look i love the folks around the world i dislike money and powerhungry governments like the USA. This bomber is your taxmoney etc. Your hard worked money goes here into pieces.
wombatsage (September 17, 2008 at 10:48 pm)
yeah people really must have been picking on nazi germany and imperial japan.
Berothsloth (September 26, 2008 at 1:25 am)
Pearl Harbor. Damn we shouldn't have been screwing over the Japanese! Oh wait... we didn't. Well, at least it's not like Kuwait when they were attacked by Iraq! Stealing their oil like that! Oh wait... no they weren't. Hmmm... I guess I can always point out Czechoslovakia's unjust treatment of Germany! OH crap, that's not a good example either.
Berothsloth (September 26, 2008 at 1:28 am)
Power loves vacuum. You have no defense, other people see an oppurtunity to make you their b!!ch. Of course not all countries have a powerful military like the US and they do fine. But, they're often friends with big boys on the block and that earns them some street cred. Our hard earned cash seems to get us more street cred, too, in the form of the most powerful pieces of military equipment in the world.
MysteriousDoor (October 14, 2008 at 6:43 am)
"Of course not all countries have a powerful military like the US and they do fine. But, they're often friends with big boys on the block and that earns them some street cred"

Anyone say CANANDA?
sypros (September 1, 2008 at 7:21 pm)
Yea, ofcourse and then when mother russia decides to be cocksuckers once again we are all fucked.
wyrdmagyk4 (August 29, 2008 at 1:52 am)
Your right,ya know...
we are our own worst enemies...lol
biffbiffson (August 25, 2008 at 9:07 pm)
XD teameuropaa thumbs up+