According to the Global Strike Command release, dated June 7, 2018, the reason for the safety stand-down is, “An issue with ejection seat components was discovered that necessitated the stand-down.” The statement goes on to read, “As these issues are resolved, these aircraft will return to flight.”
A copy of the Air Force release from June 7, 2018 grounding B-1Bs.
This type-specific safety stand-down of the B-1B heavy bomber follows a one-day operational safety review ordered by USAF Chief of Staff General David L. Goldfein directed to all Air Force wings with flying and maintenance functions to be completed by May 21, 2018.
The May 1, 2018 incident over Texas involved B-1B Lancer 86-0109/DY, “Spectre”, built in 1986 according to sources. The aircraft was part of a two-ship B-1B flight that originated from Dyess AFB. Sources claim that the crew experienced, “An over wing fairing (OWF) fire indication on the fire warning panel climbing out of low level, followed by a #3 engine fire indication.”
According to the unofficial source who spoke to TheAviationist.com on condition of anonymity, “The aircraft commander called for manual ejection.” The source told TheAviationist.com that the B-1B’s offensive systems operator was the first to attempt ejection from the aircraft. Photos of the aircraft on the ground support this information since the escape hatch over the offensive systems operator station is missing from the aircraft. The source goes on to report, “The [ejection] seat did not go up the rails.”, meaning the escape system did not function normally.
While no official report has been issued surrounding the cause and specific events of the May 1, 2018 incident, sources close to the investigation have hailed the B-1B flight pilot in command and crew as “heroic” for saving the aircraft and the lives of all on board.
“Two US Air Force officials told CNN that although B-1s are currently deployed to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, operations in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan would not be impacted.”
Two B-1s from Dyess AFB are also deployed to RAF Fairford to take part in BALTOPS 2018 exercise. It’s still not clear whether the grounding involves these two Lancers as well.
Two B-1Bs from @DyessAFBase, Texas, dropped 12 inert Mark 62 Quickstrike mines in support of in #BALTOPS2018. Including bombers in the #BALTOPS allows crews to integrate and train with other @US_EUCOM components, while exercising the U.S.’s key bomber capabilities.
The B-1B Lancer, nicknamed the “Bone”, is a four-engine, supersonic, variable-geometry swept wing heavy bomber capable of Mach 1.2. The aircraft first flew in December 1974 but the program was plagued by politics and budget concerns until it was eventually cancelled in 1977 during the Carter administration. The program was later restored under the Reagan administration in 1981.
Top image: composite image made of photos appeared on various social media from the May 1, 2018 B-1B emergency landing in Texas.
Reports: No Injuries in Engine Incident That Forced Emergency Landing at Airport.
A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer heavy bomber is reported to have made an emergency landing following an “engine failure” at Midland International Air and Space Port between Midland and Odessa, Texas, on May 1, 2018.
The aircraft shown on the ground in photos posted on social media is from the 7th Bomb Wing, either the 28th or 9th Bomb Squadron (most probably the first one based on the tail markings) at Dyess AFB near Abilene, Texas. Midland International Air and Space Port is approximately 150 miles from Dyess AFB where the aircraft likely originated.
No injuries were reported in the incident and all four of the crewmembers on board the B-1B Lancer were reported to have left the plane on the ground normally.
A story published on the KTXS12, local ABC affiliate website, said that officials at Dyess AFB told reporters the B-1B, “experienced an in-flight emergency”. Another local news station, KWES, quoted the airport manager as saying the aircraft experienced a “flame out”.
The B-1 on the ground at Midland International Airport. Image credit: Tim Fischer/Midland Reporter-Telegram MRT.com
Reports indicate the aircraft was not carrying any munitions at the time of the incident. The bomber will remain at the Midland airport “until it can be safely returned to Dyess,” according to a new release.
The B-1B is a supersonic, four-engine, variable-geometry swept wing heavy strategic bomber that first flew in 1974. It is in operational use with the U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command and has been used extensively in the Global War on Terror. The B-1B has demonstrated an excellent safety record for a large supersonic aircraft.
Even the Russian Tu-95 Bears made a rare tour close to South Korea’s airspace yesterday.
Two Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers briefly violated South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) on Wednesday, prompting the country’s fighter jets to scramble to shadow the “intruders” for a few miles. The episode it’s worth of note since unlike the U.S. bombers, the Russian rarely fly close to the Korean peninsula.
Generally speaking an ADIZ is “the airspace over land or water in which the identification, location and control of civilian aircraft is performed in the interest of national security.”
ADIZs may extend beyond a country’s territory to give the country more time to respond to possible hostile aircraft: in fact any aircraft flying inside these zones without authorization may be identified as a threat and treated as an enemy aircraft, leading to an interception and VID (Visual Identification) by fighter aircraft.
“As the Russian aircraft entered the KADIZ in formation yesterday morning, a squadron of our Air Force jets made an emergency sorties,” said an officer to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
The Russian planes, however, did not intrude into South Korea’s aerospace, he added.
According to the Russian MoD, during the trip the Russian Bears were accompanied by Russian Sukhoi Su-35S fighter jets and A-50 early warning and control aircraft. The flight was also intercepted by the Japan Air Self Defense Force.
Russia does not acknowledge the air defense identification zones of neighboring countries. Sometimes, its warplanes enter the zones which are a sort of defense-purpose concept neither stipulated in any state-to-state treaty nor regulated by any international body. As happened on the night of May 3, 2017, when a “mini-package” made of two Tu-95MS Bear bombers, escorted by two Su-35S Flanker-E jets, and supported by an A-50 Mainstay, flew inside the Alaskan ADIZ (Air Defense Identification Zone) and were intercepted by two U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors some 50 NM to the south of Chariot, Alaska.
23 AUG : JASDF Fighters scrambled to intercept 2x RuAF Tu-95 Bears over the Sea of Japan & Pacific Ocean pic.twitter.com/NgfyaypO72
However, the Russian Bears were not the only bombers to fly in the region during the last 24 hours. Indeed, on Aug. 24, the JASDF had to intercept six Chinese Xian H-6K long-range strategic bombers (south of the KADIZ). Here below you can see the track they followed skirting Japan.
24 AUG : JASDF Fighters scrambled to intercept 6x Chinese AF H-6’s over the East China Sea & Pacific Ocean pic.twitter.com/TjUUlNdF7E
A more constant presence in the area are the U.S. B-1B Lancer bombers providing support to the CBP (Continuous Bomber Presence) from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. According to the reports, two “Bones” flew from Guam to South Korea on Aug. 24.
At present 2xB-1B bmbrs (cs Deaf01flt) are on the route from Guam twrds Taiwan (prob a FONOPS over S.CH.Sea). MARSA tnkrs (cs Cylon21flt). pic.twitter.com/s37N4PpVQ2
Indeed, U.S. B-52 and B-2 bombers routinely fly nuclear deterrence missions in the Asia-Pacific theater from both CONUS bases and Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. Sometimes, they also intrude the Chinese ADIZ: in November 2013, a flight of two U.S. B-52 bombers departed from Guam airbase entered the new Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over East China Sea close to the disputed islands without complying with any of the rules set by Beijing for the ADIZ. In that case, the mission intentionally skirted the disputed Diaoyu Islands (known as Senkaku islands in Japan).
On Mar. 10, the U.S. announced the deployment of three Air Force B-2 stealth bombers from the 509th Bomb Wing, from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, to the Asia-Pacific region amid growing tensions with North Korea.
Although the U.S. Air Force has not disclosed where the aircraft will be based, it is quite likely that the aircraft will operate out of Andersen Air Force Base, in Guam, strategically located in the Pacific, that has already hosted U.S. bombers involved in extended deterrence missions in the region.
On the previous day, Lt. Col. Damien Pickart, a spokesman for the U.S. Air Force, told to Reuters that the U.S. could deploy long-range bombers to Australia as concerns over China’s military expansion in the Asia-Pacific area continue to grow.
In fact, as reported by FoxNews.com, high-level discussions are in progress to deploy B-1 bombers in northern Australia and to expand B-52 bomber missions in the region, even if details such as the duration of the rotations and the number of personnel involved are still being hammered out.
Pickart added that these deployments would not only provide training opportunities for U.S. airmen but they would also deliver Pacific Air Forces and U.S. Pacific Command leaders “a credible global strike and deterrence capability to help maintain peace and security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.”
The talks about the chance to rotate bombers through northern Australia come in the wake of a freedom of navigation exercise conducted by the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) and its Carrier Strike Group (CSG) in the South China Sea, where China is militarizing the region to guard its excessive territorial claims.
However an agreement between the two nations about bomber rotations in Australia would put USAF B-1B Lancers within striking distance of the South China Sea, most likely a move that would add more pressure on China, as already highlighted by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei “Cooperation among relevant countries should protect regional peace and stability, and not target the interests of third parties.”
Noteworthy while the U.S. Air Force conducts B-52 missions from Australia periodically, doesn’t fly any B-1s from there.
Moreover, as we have explained, this is not the first time that U.S. take in consideration the chance to base the Lancers on the Australian continent, but any previous rumour about this possibility never turned into the real thing.
Nevertheless an eventual deployment of the B-1B in Australia could finally bring back the Lancer in the Pacific Region.
But, for the first time in the last few weeks, the deployment of the “Bones” to the Pacific atoll was not made public (at least, not yet), a fact that could be the sign that the U.S. is not only making symbolic moves (as the above mentioned ones), but it is preparing for the worst scenario: an attack on North Korea.
From his station in Amarillo, Texas, author, investigative journalist, technologies expert Steve Douglass heard something interesting. In a message he sent us on Facebook he said:
“Late last night I monitored “DARK flight of seven” on PRIME (311.000 MHZ STRATCOM PRIMARY) asking for current weather for UAM [airport code for Guam – Andersen Air Force Base]. On the frequency of 251.100 Mhz,DARK flight also was calling for “GASSR 11 and GASSR 12” (KC-135s) for “Tanker drag to BAB [Beale AFB, California]”.
“Dark” is the standard radio callsign for the 7th Bomb Wing’s B-1s based at Dyess AFB, near Abilene, Texas.
Even if U.S. bombers routinely deploy to Guam (where at least two B-2s are reportedly already based), the fact that seven “Bones” were apparently moving together is something a bit unusual, even if they were not going to Andersen AFB (they might need the weather report for UAM because it was an alternate airfield or simply a stopover on their way to somewhere else).
Actually, it’s also weird that some many big bombers were flying together (as the “flight of seven” heard by Douglass seems to suggest) since a standard ferry flight of multiple planes would normally see the aircraft move individually. And, another strange thing is that the pilot talked about their destination in the clear: if they wanted it to be secret, they would speak on secure radios.
Nevertheless, this might have been a non-standard deployment; a move ordered hours after U.S. satellites and spyplanes from South Korea and Japan had spotted North Korean missiles being readied for launch.
Image credit: U.S. Air Force
The deployment is not the only interesting thing Douglass, an unsurpassed expert in the field of military monitoring, has heard lately.
Earlier he had intercepted an interesting communication off a military satellite in which an Ellsworth AFB’s B-1B, callsign “Slam 1”, was training to hit a “missile facility” in Snyder, Texas.
A practice run for a mission in the DPRK with a school bus depot standing in for the real thing?
Maybe.
American B-1 bomber pilots have reportedly shifted their training programs, focusing on in East Asia, more than Afghanistan and the Middle East. And, above all, any training mission has many similitarities with actual sorties that would be flown against a real enemy in combat.
Anyway, Douglass has recorded an audio snippet of the exercise (available here). Based on the coordinates for Snyder, Texas here‘s the target on Google Maps.
You can read more about the military air activity recently monitored by Steve Douglass in an extremely interesting article he posted on his blog that not only summarize the contents of the messages he sent to The Aviationist, but provides some more details about the alleged overseas deployment of E-6 Mercury “doomsday” planes from Tinker AFB, Oklahoma.
