A U.S. Air Force B-52H bomber has been damaged during an incident earlier today on the ground at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. The exact circumstances of the accident are unknown, but a report indicates that the aircraft’s right wing hit a fence while it was being positioned for a static display.
A picture, seen below, reportedly showing a redacted Maintenance Operations Center (MOC) Notification Worksheet regarding this mishap appeared today on the unofficial Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook group. Barksdale’s public affairs office confirmed to The War Zone that an incident involving a B-52H had occurred at the base, but no other details are yet being released. Barksdale is home to the active-duty 2nd Bomb Wing and the Air Force Reserve’s 343rd Bomb Wing.
“While positioning the aircraft for static display on the site, the aircraft collided with the fence directly in front of the MXG [maintenance] building,” the notice, which says it was submitted by the 2nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (2 AMXS), reads. “No personnel were reported injured. All pieces were recovered from the fence and the aircraft and there is significant damage to the right wing tip and the leading edge wing outboard of the right external tank.”
There is no explanation given for the purpose of this static display. Bombers at the base are posed from time to time for public relations and other purposes.
The actual extent of the damage remains to be seen, but if it is indeed substantial, it could be costly and time-consuming to repair the bomber. The last B-52Hs rolled off the production line in 1962. The Air Force currently has 76 of these bombers still in service, along with a small handful of additional surplus airframes in storage at the boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.
We will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
Updated 5:35 PM EST:
Pictures have now appeared on the Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page reportedly showing the damage to the B-52H’s wing after the mishap at Barksdale earlier today. What we can see in these photographs is consistent with the information in the Notification Worksheet that had previously emerged.
This Facebook post also identifies the aircraft in question as B-52H, serial number 60-0059, which is known to be assigned to Barksdale’s 2nd Bomb Wing.
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