Air Force identifies crew members killed in California B-52 crash

Officials at Edwards Air Force Base, California, released the names of the eight crew members of a B-52 Stratofortress who were killed on Monday when the bomber crashed shortly after takeoff at the desert base.

The crew included five active-duty Air Force aviators and three civilians.

According to the Air Force, those killed were:

• Col. Greg Watson, 53, weapon systems officer and employee of Boeing. Watson was an Air Force reservist, assigned to the 10th Air Force, and lived in Shreveport, Louisiana.
• Lt. Col. Gabriel Estrella, 40, weapon systems officer, was assigned to the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, Detachment 5, Edwards Air Force Base.
• Maj. Alexander Davis, 34, weapon systems officer, 419th Flight Test Squadron, lived in Lancaster, California.
• Maj. Robert Dee, 40, pilot, 419th Flight Test Squadron, lived at Edwards Air Force Base.
• Maj. Brad Hovey, 35, pilot, 419th Flight Test Squadron, lived at Edwards Air Force Base.
• Retired Lt. Col. Miles Middleton, 50, pilot and Boeing employee, lived in Tehachapi, California.
• Jeromy Smith, 32, flight test engineer, 419th Flight Test Squadron, lived in Rosamond, California.
• Christopher Rischar, 41, flight test engineer and JT4 contractor, lived in Lancaster, California.

“These airmen were more than coworkers. They were friends, mentors, teammates and valued members of our Edwards and Air Force family,” Col. Thomas Tauer, commander of the 412th Test Wing, said in a statement. “Our immediate focus is supporting the families of the teammates we lost and ensuring that all appropriate resources are available to them during this time of unimaginable loss.”

The cause of the crash is under investigation, and the airfield is closed until further notice, Edwards Air Force Base announced on Thursday.

The B-52 took off from Edwards Air Force Base at approximately 11:20 a.m. Pacific time on June 15 and crashed soon after. Emergency crews responded, but a few hours later the 412th Test Wing said that the crash was not believed to be survivable. The base said that the flight was a “routine training” one.

The crash was the latest aircraft mishap in the past month, following a midair collision between two EA-18G Growlers in May and a Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet crashing near a lake in the Mount Rainier region of Washington on June 13.

Monday’s crash was the deadliest incident involving a B-52 since a 1982 mishap that killed nine people onboard. That bomber took off in a simulated combat flight near Mather Air Force Base.

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