Watch A B-1 Lancer Bomber Abort Take Off From RAF Fairford

SPICY 42 aborting the take off roll. (Image via @Saint1Mil)

This is something you don’t see too often.

The clip in this post was shot earlier today at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire, England, that is currently four B-1B Lancer bombers belonging to the 7th Bomb Wing, from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, as part of BTF 23-3, the first Bomber Task Force deployment for the British airbase of 2023.

Flying as SPICY 41 and SPICY 42, two B-1B bombers (registration 86-0103 and 86-0105), were launching for a routine theatre mission on June 1, 2023. After SPICY 41 had departed, SPICY 42 started its take off roll but experienced an unknown issue and aborted the departure. The unusual event was filmed by our friend @Saint1Mil in the video below.

At the 1:20 mark you can see the second Lancer starting its take off roll in full afterburner but 10 seconds later the throttles are pulled to idle and the heavy bomber starts decelerating making also use of the wing spoilers.

SPICY 42 fixed the issue that caused the aborted take off and was eventually able to depart about 1 hour later.

The BONEs (from B-One) have launched their first BTF mission on May 30, 2023, when two B-1Bs carried out a flyby over Sarajevo, in what has been called a sign of the strong partnership between the United States and the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (OSBiH) and their continued commitment to sovereignty territorial integrity and multi-ethnic character of BiH.

The mission was rather symbolic as it came amid growing tensions in the Balkans over the weekend as protests between the Serbian minority of northern Kosovo and ethnic Albanians. On the day before, on May 29, during the protests against the installation of Kosovar-Albanian mayors in the cities of Mitrovica Nord, Zvecan, Zubin Potok, and Leposavic, 14 Italian military personnel of KFOR (Kosovo Force), that intervened as an interposition force between the Kosovo-Serbian population and the Kosovo Police, were injured. However, the B-1 mission was not a “show of force” following the incident, as U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa Public Affairs had announced it on May 26, 2023.

About David Cenciotti

David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

David Cenciotti