2008 Andersen Air Force Base B-2 accident

USAF stealth bomber crash

2008 Andersen Air Force Base B-2 accident
Accident
The crashed Spirit of Kansas
Date	23 February 2008 (2008-02-23)
Summary	Stalled and crashed on take-off
Site	Andersen Air Force Base, Guam 13°35′13″N 144°56′19″E / 13.58694°N 144.93861°E / 13.58694; 144.93861
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit
Aircraft name	Spirit of Kansas
Operator	United States Air Force
Registration	89-0127
Flight origin	Andersen Air Force Base, Guam
Destination	Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri
Occupants	2
Crew	2
Fatalities	0
Injuries	1
Survivors	2

On 23 February 2008, Spirit of Kansas, a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber of the United States Air Force, crashed on the runway moments after takeoff from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. The aircraft was destroyed, but both crew members successfully ejected. The accident marked the first operational loss of a B‑2 bomber, and as of 2024 remains one of two lost B-2s since another damaged B-2 had to be retired due to repair costs after an on-board fire. With an estimated loss of US$1.4 billion, considering only the cost of the aircraft, it was also the most expensive aircraft crash in history.

Accident

On 23 February 2008, a B‑2 crashed on the runway shortly after takeoff from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. The crash of the Spirit of Kansas, 89-0127, which had been operated by the 393rd Bomb Squadron, 509th Bomb Wing, Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, and had logged 5,100 flight hours, was the first crash of a B‑2.

The two-officer crew (Major Ryan Link and Captain Justin Grieve) were unable to control the bomber, and as one of its wingtips made contact with the ground, they ejected and survived the crash. The aircraft was destroyed, a total loss estimated at US$1.4 billion. This is equivalent to $1.96 billion in 2023.

The video of the aircraft taking off then rolling to the ground.

According to the Air Force Times, a private-industry magazine, no munitions were on board. The Air Combat Command accident board report states that "classified material" had been loaded onto the bomber the morning the aircraft was returning to Whiteman Air Force Base "after a four-month deployment in support of Pacific Air Forces' continuous bomber presence."

At Guam Naval Hospital, one pilot was evaluated and released, and the second was hospitalized. A B‑2 already in the air was called back to Andersen after the crash, where it and the other B‑2s were grounded until the initial investigation into the crash was complete. Six Boeing B‑52s of the 96th Bomb Squadron, 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, were deployed to replace the B‑2s.

The commander of the 509th Bomb Wing, Brig. Gen. Garrett Harencak temporarily suspended flying operations for all 20 remaining B‑2s to review procedures. Harencak termed the suspension a "safety pause" and stated that the B‑2s would resume flying if called upon for immediate operations. The B‑2 fleet returned to flight status on 15 April 2008.

Investigation

The findings of the investigation stated that the B‑2 crashed after "heavy, lashing rains" caused moisture to enter skin-flush air-data sensors. The data from the sensors are used to calculate numerous factors including airspeed and altitude. Because three pressure transducers failed to function—attributable to condensation inside devices, not a maintenance error—the flight-control computers calculated inaccurate aircraft angle of attack and airspeed. Incorrect airspeed data on cockpit displays led to the aircraft rotating at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) slower than indicated. After the wheels lifted from the runway, which caused the flight control system to switch to different control laws, the erroneously-sensed negative angle of attack caused the computers to inject a sudden, 1.6 g (16 m/s), uncommanded 30-degree pitch-up maneuver. The combination of slow lift-off speed and the extreme angle of attack, with attendant drag, resulted in an unrecoverable stall, yaw, and descent. Both crew members successfully ejected from the aircraft soon after the left wing tip started to gouge the ground alongside the runway. The aircraft hit the ground, tumbled, and burned after its fuel ignited.

In popular culture

The crash of Spirit of Kansas was featured on season 22 of the Canadian documentary series Mayday, in the episode titled, "Stealth Bomber Down".

References

^ Lavitt, Michael O. "B‑2 Crashes on Takeoff From Guam." Aviation Week, 23 February 2008. Archived 17 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
"B-2 Crashes in Guam | Key Aero". www.key.aero. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
"USAF Will Retire, Not Repair, Damaged B-2; Fleet Shrinking to 19 Aircraft". Air & Space Forces Magazine. 13 May 2024.
^ "Moisture confused sensors in B‑2 crash", AirForceTimes, 6 June 2008.
Whitaker, Raymond (25 February 2008). "The Most Expensive Air Crash in History". Common Dreams. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
"Videos Show a $1.4 Billion Crash of a B-2 Stealth Bomber 10 Years Ago". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 28 December 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
"B-2 Spirit: The $2 billion flying wing". CNN. 23 January 2020.
"Air Force: Moisture caused $1.4 billion bomber crash". CNN.com. 6 June 2008. Archived from the original on 10 June 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
^ Air Combat Command, Accident Investigation Board, "Summary of Facts", "B-2A, S/N 89-0127, 20080223 KSZL501A"; link: AFD-080605-054 Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, hosted by GlenPew.com
Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 30 November 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
"No munitions on board B‑2 that crashed", Air Force Times, 23 February 2008.
"B-2 stealth bomber crashes on Guam". NBC News. 23 February 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
"B-2 pause", Air Force Times, February 2008.
Linch, Stephen. "B-2s return to flight after safety pause", USAF, 21 April 2008. Archived 17 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
"Air Force: Sensor Moisture Caused 1st B-2 Crash". NBC News. 5 June 2008.
Shachtman, Noah (6 June 2008). "Video: Stealth Bomber Crashes". Wired. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008.
"2008 Andersen Air Force Base B-2 accident on IMDb". IMDb.

External links

Video of the crash with detailed, technical narration.

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 2008 (2008)
Jan 4 Transaven Turbolet crashJan 12 Macedonian Armed Forces Mi-17 crashJan 17 British Airways Flight 38Jan 23 Polish Air Force C-295 crashFeb 8 Eagle Airways Flight 2279Feb 14 Belavia Flight 1834Feb 21 Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518Feb 23 Andersen Air Force Base B-2 accidentMar 30 Biggin Hill Cessna Citation crashApr 3 Blue Wing Airlines An-28 crashApr 11 Kata Air Transport Flight 007Apr 15 Hewa Bora Airways Flight 122May 25 Kalitta Air Flight 207May 26 Moskovia Airlines Flight 9675May 30 TACA Flight 390Jun 10 Sudan Airways Flight 109Jul 7 Centurion Air Cargo Flight 164Jul 21 Guam B-52 crashJul 25 Qantas Flight 30Jul 31 East Coast Jets Flight 81Aug 20 Spanair Flight 5022Aug 24 Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895Aug 24 Aéreo Ruta Maya crashAug 28 Sriwijaya Air Flight 062Aug 30 Conviasa Boeing 737 crashSep 14 Aeroflot Flight 821Sep 19 South Carolina Learjet 60 crashOct 7 Qantas Flight 72Oct 8 Yeti Airlines Flight 101Nov 4 Mexico City crashNov 10 Ryanair Flight 4102Nov 27 XL Airways Germany Flight 888TDec 8 San Diego F/A-18 crashDec 20 Continental Airlines Flight 1404
2007 ◄ ► 2009

Aviation accidents and incidents in 2008 (2008)

Jan 4 Transaven Turbolet crashJan 12 Macedonian Armed Forces Mi-17 crashJan 17 British Airways Flight 38Jan 23 Polish Air Force C-295 crashFeb 8 Eagle Airways Flight 2279Feb 14 Belavia Flight 1834Feb 21 Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518Feb 23 Andersen Air Force Base B-2 accidentMar 30 Biggin Hill Cessna Citation crashApr 3 Blue Wing Airlines An-28 crashApr 11 Kata Air Transport Flight 007Apr 15 Hewa Bora Airways Flight 122May 25 Kalitta Air Flight 207May 26 Moskovia Airlines Flight 9675May 30 TACA Flight 390Jun 10 Sudan Airways Flight 109Jul 7 Centurion Air Cargo Flight 164Jul 21 Guam B-52 crashJul 25 Qantas Flight 30Jul 31 East Coast Jets Flight 81Aug 20 Spanair Flight 5022Aug 24 Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895Aug 24 Aéreo Ruta Maya crashAug 28 Sriwijaya Air Flight 062Aug 30 Conviasa Boeing 737 crashSep 14 Aeroflot Flight 821Sep 19 South Carolina Learjet 60 crashOct 7 Qantas Flight 72Oct 8 Yeti Airlines Flight 101Nov 4 Mexico City crashNov 10 Ryanair Flight 4102Nov 27 XL Airways Germany Flight 888TDec 8 San Diego F/A-18 crashDec 20 Continental Airlines Flight 1404

2007 ◄ ► 2009

Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 2000s

2000

Alaska Airlines Flight 261 (January 2000)
Zion mid-air collision (February 8 2000)
Emery Worldwide Airlines Flight 17 (February 16 2000)
Southwest Airlines Flight 1455 (March 2000)
East Coast Aviation Services British Aerospace Jetstream crash (May 2000)
Southwest Airlines Flight 1763 (August 2000)

2001

Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball team plane crash (January 2001)
Delta Air Lines Flight 1989 (September 11 2001)
American Airlines Flight 587 (November 2001)

September 11 attacks	American Airlines Flight 11 United Airlines Flight 175 American Airlines Flight 77 United Airlines Flight 93 template

2002

Tampa Cessna 172 crash (January 2002)
Airtanker crashes (June 2002)
America West Airlines Flight 556 (July 1 2002)
FedEx Express Flight 1478 (July 26 2002)

2003

Air Midwest Flight 5481 (January 2003)
Colgan Air Flight 9446 (August 2003)
FedEx Express Flight 647 (December 2003)

2004

Northwest Airlines Flight 327 (June 2004)
Air Tahoma Flight 185 (August 2004)
Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701 (October 14 2004)
Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 (October 19 2004)

2005

Logan Airport runway incursion (June 2005)
JetBlue Flight 292 (September 2005)
Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 (December 8 2005)
Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 (December 19 2005)

2006

FedEx Express Flight 630 (July 2006)
Comair Flight 5191 (August 2006)
New York City Cirrus SR20 crash (October 11 2006)
Continental Airlines Flight 1883 (October 28 2006)
Mercy Air Bell 412 crash (December 2006)

2007

Blue Angels South Carolina crash (April 2007)
San Francisco International Airport runway incursion (May 2007)
Phoenix news helicopter collision (July 2007)

2008

Andersen Air Force Base B-2 accident (February 2008)*
Guam B-52 crash (July 21 2008)*
East Coast Jets Flight 81 (July 31 2008)
South Carolina Learjet 60 crash (September 2008)
San Diego F/A-18 crash (December 8 2008)
Continental Airlines Flight 1404 (December 20 2008)

2009

US Airways Flight 1549 (January 2009)
Colgan Air Flight 3407 (February 2009)
Southwest Airlines Flight 2294 (July 2009)
Hudson River mid-air collision (August 2009)
Northwest Airlines Flight 188 (October 21 2009)
California mid-air collision (October 29 2009)

This list is incomplete.
An asterisk (*) denotes an incident that took place in a U.S. territory.
1990–1999 ◄ 2000–2009 ► 2010–2019

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Guam
World Airways Flight 830 (September 1960) Air Manila Flight 702 (June 1976) Korean Air Flight 801 (August 1997) Andersen Air Force Base B-2 accident (February 2008) Guam B-52 crash (July 2008)

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