The Air Force is investigating after a B-52 Stratofortress crashed shortly after takeoff Monday at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California.
The aircraft went down on the airfield at about 11:20 a.m., according to a Facebook post from the base. Officials have not said how many people were aboard or whether there were any injuries or fatalities.
A standard B-52 crew consists of five airmen: an aircraft commander, pilot, radar navigator, navigator and electronic warfare officer, according to the Air Force.
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Edwards Air Force Base is located in the Mojave Desert, about 100 miles north of Los Angeles.
The base said its airfield is closed and all inbound aircraft are being diverted.
"All non-commercial visitor passes have been suspended until further notice to allow the installation to focus entirely on emergency response operations," the base said in a statement.
The B-52 first entered service in the 1950s and remains one of the Air Force's primary long-range bombers. The aircraft is capable of carrying and deploying a wide range of conventional and nuclear weapons.
