Washington [US], June 16: Eight people have been killed after a US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bomber plane crashed immediately after take off from Edwards Air Force Base in southern California, base officials say, according to BBC.
The incident occurred at 11:20 local time (19:20 GMT) on Monday while the aircraft was on a routine test mission. The crash sent a huge plume of black smoke into the air that could be seen for miles.
"Today, Edwards Air Force Base experienced a terrible tragedy, and we lost eight great Americans," Col James Hayes told reporters, describing them as a "mixed crew of military, government civilians and government contractors".
The base earlier said that initial indications are that the crash "was not survivable".
The B-52 was supporting the base's radar modernisation programme, he said, and it crashed immediately after takeoff and burst into flames.
After reviewing initial footage, it was deemed "an unrecoverable crash and unsurvivable", Hayes said.
Source: Emirates News Agency
