Breaking news B1 Crash

Hope the pilots are OK, though I doubt it from what I've read...

What now, ground the B-1s too ?

Cheers

Nico

I don't get it..the article said it caught fire while taxiing..then an official said it crashed?

My wild, speculative, totally off the wall guess...uh...brake fire from taxiing to long at a high gross weight and riding the brakes..

Hope everyone is OK. Hope it only caught fire on the ground and they got out and not a "crash"..

cnn.com says crash while landing. Hope they are ok.

Yes. Apparently we don't have the true story. Hope the crew are OK.

It probably caught fire because "the Deid" is just so freaking hot!

Seriously though, hope the crew is okay.

Reuters reports:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. B-1 bomber caught fire after landing at an air base in Qatar on Friday but the crew escaped without injury, the Air Force said.
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Fire erupted as the plane taxied after landing at al Udeid Air Base around 1:10 p.m. EDT after what the Air Force described as "a ground incident."

"The crew evacuated the aircraft and is safe. The fire was contained," the Air Force said in a statement.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080404/ts_nm/usa_qatar_crash_dc

Good news. Thanks Goalie.

Hi,

So .. all seem's good ... only 200 Millions dollars going in smoke and flammes.

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"4/4/2008 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- A B-1B Lancer, while taxiing after landing at an air base in Southwest Asia, was involved in a ground incident and caught fire at 9:10 p.m. local on April 4. The crew evacuated the aircraft and is safe. The fire was contained."

Glad everybody got out.

Hi,

Apologises for publishing false figure ..(200 Millions dollars)
I must revaluate:
Read:
283 Millions dollars value 1977 .....
Some financial specialists have maybe a estimation value for today dollars ?

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that's all that matters

Glad the boys are ok.

Was it a minor fire, or is it a total hull loss? Anyone know?

Heck yeah!!!

The aircrew were lucky then that they didn't burst into flames while running away from the BONE...because "the Deid" is just so freaking hot!!!

Probably got to have more than the three beer limit tonight.

Wow what a week....I mean year for the Air Force. First an A-10 made a belly landing last Friday at Edwards after flying out of Nellis (LV NV), on Wednesday a F-16D from the 61st Luke AFB also made a gear up landing at the Gila Bend Aux Field and now the B-1 mishap.

Please will someone reconsider the cutback of military troops and the funds....

Apparently the B-1 may have stuck something while taxing causing an explosion.

"A US defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity earlier said the bomber hit something while taxiing, causing an explosion. Four crew members were aboard."

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hhJ4XWgO81hlK8tO3WRGIS2fNZxA

Runway-side bomb?

No...lol...not there.

We also almost had our first class A last week in over 20 years. One of our veteran F-16C pilots caught a surprise cross wind right before touch down and drug his left stab on the runway, almost caught his left wing which would have made it very nasty. Made a left wheel landing until he finally got the right side down and managed to save it. Much easier to replace a stab than a pilot.

I wonder if Weird Crapolla knows how much that cost since it seems to be a major interest to him...

Maybe a tire burst then? Those can be quite violent on large planes, but wouldn't that be at higher speed, rather than after it's slowed down already?

Hi,

One of my other interest is what was loaded in this B1 (I mean the bombs load ).. I hope it was not with his normal war load.
Some witnesses report multiples explosions after the plane was in flammes.

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And why not? The "roadside bomb" is neither exclusive to Iraq, nor even invented there. It seems to have started being used widely in the 1980's Afghanistan war between Afghan Muj's Vs the Russian Army. Since then it's become the primary way for Chechens to kill Russian Army troops. Speaking of Chechens, they don't restrict their attacks to just Chechnya, having seized hostages in a Moscow theater, placed nuclear material in a Moscow public park, and slaughtered hundreds of kids in school at Beslan.

So, I don't feel it's totally implausible for a handful of Oman locals to scrounge up for a small piece of ordnance, perhaps one that works at the airport/base, to place one by the runway. Indeed local employees have often found to be the security breach for highly secured areas: the Green Zone attacks (the one involving the cement truck), the mess hall attack (suicide bomber walks into the chow hall at lunchtime), and others.

Look, I'm actually thinking this is unlikely too, and FAR more likely something involving the plane itself, but it doesn't take that much imagination to conceive a plausible scenario, even if unlikely.

Sure, it's not totally impossible, but highly unlikely. al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar has never had any kind of attack and I believe Qatar's emir actually lives in a palace either on or close to the base. I never felt unsafe anywhere on base, and never worried about anything...other than the crazy heat! This was the one place I'd take a shower only to make my sweat smell better...because you were sweating while toweling off and never stopped sweating.

heh just as likely that a wild goat got sucked into an intake. that would make a mess, though with a few skewers you could have a kebab party at the back...

Hi,

If speculating ..and remind the Guam B-1 incident it will be likely the same .. as a problem with hydraulic brake fluid line (rupture ans spray of the fluid on the hot parts of the gear assembly)
The investigation find it was not a fluid from a goat .



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