A B-1 Lancer aircraft from South Dakota’s Ellsworth Air Force Base encountered an accident during its landing attempt, leading to a safe ejection of all four crew members, as confirmed by the Air Force.
Engaged in a training exercise, the incident involving the B-1 occurred on Thursday evening, as reported by the 28th Bomb Wing based at Ellsworth. The statement noted challenging visibility conditions, including low temperatures, dense cloud cover, and poor visibility, as recorded by the automated weather systems monitoring the airfield. The military is currently conducting an investigation into the details of the accident.
Following the crash, three of the crew members received medical attention on the base for minor injuries and were subsequently discharged, as stated in a release on Friday. The fourth crew member is receiving treatment for non-critical injuries at a nearby hospital.
The B-1, a non-nuclear supersonic bomber, was first introduced in the 1980s. Its primary roles have included supporting the United States’ bomber operations in the Asia-Pacific and executing close air support tasks during U.S. military engagements in Afghanistan.
Originally, 100 of these aircraft were manufactured, but today less than 60 are operational, shared between Texas’s Dyess Air Force Base and Ellsworth.
