The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress has been operational with the United States Air Force since 5 June 1955. This list is of accidents and incidents involving the B-52 resulting in loss of life, severe injuries, or a loss of an aircraft (damaged beyond repair). Incidents in which the aircraft was damaged but repaired are not included.
1950–1959
1956 On 16 February, after an inflight fire on the right wing, a B-52B (tail number 53–0384) from the 93rd Bombardment Wing (Heavy) out of Castle Air Force Base (AFB), Merced County, California, crashed on a functional flight test near Tracy, California. Four crew members including the deputy wing commander Patrick D. Fleming died while four others survived.
After an inflight fire, on 16 September, a "B" model (tail number 53-0393) of the 93rd Bombardment Wing, Castle AFB, crashed southeast of Madera, California. The pilot and copilot ejected safely, but the remaining five crew members died. No cause is listed.
On 30 November, a RB-52B (tail number 52-8716) from the 93rd Bombardment Wing, Castle AFB, crashed north of the base during takeoff on a training flight. Six crew members plus four instructors died. On a night mission, while climbing to , the aircraft dropped to a 5° nose down attitude. During the investigation, no technical issues or structural failures were found. It is believed the accident was caused by either by a wrong maneuver by the pilot or because the crew was distracted. Following the accident, the Air Force recommended that flaps could not be raised below a minimum of . This is the worst single aircraft loss of life accident in the B-52s operating history. This was also the third B-52 crash at Castle AFB in eight months.
1957 From a routine instrument training mission on 10 January, a B-52D (tail number 55‑0082) of the 42nd Bombardment Wing (Heavy) returning to Loring AFB, Maine, broke apart in midair and crashed near Morrell, New Brunswick, Canada, about southeast of the base. The crash killed eight of the nine crew on board; the co-pilot, Captain Joseph L. Church, parachuted to safety. The crash was believed to have been caused by overstressing the wings and/or airframe during an exercise designed to test the pilot's reflexes. This was the fourth crash involving a B-52 in eleven months.
On 29 March, a B-52C (tail number 54-2676) retained by Boeing and used for tests as JB-52C, crashed during a test flight by Boeing from Wichita, Kansas. Two of the four crew on board died. The aircraft crashed near Skiatook, Oklahoma, about northwest of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The investigation found the airplane experienced a loss of AC electrical power during negative G-force conditions due to a defective constant speed drive.
On 6 November, a B-52B (tail number 53-0382) from the 93rd Bombardment Wing crashed and was damaged beyond repair upon landing at Castle AFB. The aircraft was performing touch and go landings and the latch on the landing gear lever failed resulting in the landing gear retracting while the airplane was still on the runway. There were no fatalities, but several crew members were severely injured.
On 12 December, the incorrect wiring of a stabilizer trim switch caused a B-52D (tail number 56‑0597) from the 92d Bombardment Wing (Heavy) to crash at Fairchild AFB, Washington state. The incorrect stabilizer trim caused a loss of control resulting in the aircraft crashing at the end of the runway. The tail gunner, Gene I. Graye, survived but the other eight crew on board died.
1958 Due to total loss of power during final approach, on 11 February, a B-52D (tail number 56-0610) crashed short of the runway at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. The aircraft was from the 77th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) of the 28th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) based at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. Two of the eight crew members on board died in addition to three ground personnel. The crash was determined to be from frozen fuel lines that clogged fuel filters. The fact that jet fuel absorbs water vapor from the atmosphere was not known before this accident. After this accident, over two hundred previous aircraft losses listed as "cheese" were attributed to frozen fuel lines.
On 26 June, a "D" model (tail number 55‑0102) operated by the 42nd Bombardment Wing was destroyed by a ground fire at Loring AFB. There were no injuries. A fuel leak ignited while the aircraft was parked and being serviced; the crew chief attempted to start the engines without "pulling the circuit breaker" first, leading to a spark, which ignited the fuel.
On 29 July, another "D" model (tail number 55-0093) from 42nd Bombardment Wing flew into the ground in extreme weather and crashed in a field near Loring AFB. Eight of the crew of nine died.
Two B-52Ds (tail number 56‑0661 and 56‑0681) from the 92d Bombardment Wing collided on 8 September in midair near Fairchild AFB. Thirteen crew members on the two aircraft died. The planes' crews were conducting flight training consisting of visual and instrument approaches and landings. The control tower operator noticed the two aircraft in dangerous proximity and ordered them to perform separation maneuvers as per standard protocol; the close aircraft was instructed to descend and turn left and land while the farther aircraft was instructed to breakaway (climb and to the right). Instead, both aircraft climbed and turned right. A few seconds later, at an altitude of , both aircraft collided and crashed about from the runway. The collision was the result of the approach procedures not being followed by the crew; although, investigators were unable to determine why the crew failed to follow the standard procedures and Air Traffic Control instructions. Three crew members survived with serious injuries.
On 17 September, another "D" model (tail number 55‑0065) from 42nd Bombardment Wing, Loring AFB crashed south of Saint Paul, Minnesota. A flight control failure led to the separation of the tail. Only one of the eight crew members survived. In addition, several local civilians were injured. The aircraft was attached to the 42nd Bombardment Wing at Loring AFB.
On 9 December, B-52E (tail number 56‑0633) from the 11th Bombardment Wing was on a routine night training mission when it crashed at Altus AFB, Oklahoma. Improper use of the stabilizer trim during an overshoot was the cause of the crash. All nine on board died.
1959 On 29 January, B-52B (53‑0371) from the 93rd Bombardment Wing crashed during takeoff at Castle AFB. The crew managed to evacuate the aircraft safely. The crew aborted the take-off at a high speed forcing the airplane back onto the runway and then it skidded off the end of the runway. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
On 23 June, B-52D (tail number 56‑0591, call sign "Tommy's Tigator") operating out of Larson AFB, crashed in the Ochoco National Forest near Burns, Oregon. The aircraft was operated by Boeing personnel during a test flight and crashed after turbulence-induced failure in the horizontal stabilizer at a low elevation. All five Boeing personnel died.
On 10 August, a B-52C (tail number 54-2682) from the 99th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) crashed northeast of New Hampton, New Hampshire, after the nose radome failed in flight. The crew ejected safely. While on a training mission, the crew encountered problems after the radome detached in flight. The captain elected to divert to the nearest airport but due to poor weather conditions, ATC vectored the crew to RCAF Goose Bay Station, Labrador, Canada, about northeast of his position. As they believed they could not make it, the crew decided to bail out and abandoned the aircraft. It flew into the ground and crashed in a Spruce swamp located near Fremont, New Hampshire. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all eight crew members were later found uninjured.
During a mid-air refueling on 15 October, a B-52F (tail number 57‑0036) from the 4228th Strategic Wing at Columbus AFB, Mississippi, carrying two nuclear weapons collided with a KC-135 tanker (tail number 57-1513) at over Hardinsburg, Kentucky. Four of the eight crew members on the bomber and all four crew on the tanker were killed. One of the nuclear bombs was damaged by fire, but both weapons were recovered.
1960–1969
1960 On 1 February, B-52G (tail number 58‑0180) from the 72nd Bombardment Wing (Heavy) crashed at Ramey AFB, near Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. An incorrect trim setting during touch-and-go approach was determined to be the cause of the crash. All seven of the crew died including the vice-commander of the 72nd Bombardment Wing.
On 1 April, B-52D (tail number 56‑0607) of the 92nd Bombardment Wing burned out on the runway at Fairchild AFB, due to the failure of wings. All nine crew were successfully evacuated from the aircraft. The crew was participating in a Minimum Interval Take Off mission. The aircraft was cleared for take-off, when the brakes were released, an explosion was heard on the left side of the aircraft, followed by the airplane settling to the right. The left wing had fallen off at the root joining the fuselage. The tail-gunner sustained fractures to both elbows egressing to the ground.
On 9 December, a "D" model (tail number 55‑0114) from the 99th Bombardment Wing from Westover AFB crashed near Barre, Vermont. The crash came after the navigator ejected without notifying the pilot after the aircraft descended to a low altitude route. The pilot, hearing the vibration and noise from the ejection, concluded that the aircraft was breaking up and ordered the rest of the crew to eject. The gunner was killed after ejecting. The aircraft continued to fly in an erratic manner until it crashed in Plainfield, Vermont, from where the crew ejected. All but one of the crew survived with injuries and frostbite from the cold and snow in the area. The body of the tail gunner was found on July 4, 1961, seven months later.
Six days later, on 15 December, another "D" model (tail number 55‑0098) from the 327th Bombardment Squadron, 4170th Strategic Wing collided with a KC-135 from the 22nd Air Refueling Squadron, 92nd Bombardment Wing during mid-air refueling over Mullan Pass, Idaho. The refueling probe from the KC-135 pierced the skin on the wing of the B-52. Upon landing at Larson AFB, the starboard wing failed, and the aircraft caught fire during the landing roll. The runway at Larson was damaged. All crew members were evacuated. The KC-135 landed at Fairchild AFB.
1961 On 19 January, B-52B (53‑0390, call sign "Felon 22") from the 334th Bombardment Squadron, 95th Bombardment Wing out of Biggs AFB, El Paso, Texas crashed just north of Monticello, Utah after a turbulence-induced structural failure. The tail snapped off, at . Only the copilot survived after ejecting. The other seven crew members died.