The Spirit of Kansas crash is the most expensive plane crash in history. How the US Air Force lost a nuclear bomber worth more than $2bn
The United States regularly maintains a presence in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region to enhance the security of allies and effectively deter enemies. This involves aircraft from all over the US, including the (usually) very reliable and very expensive B-2 Spirit. But it was involving a nuclear bomber that caused the most expensive plane crash in history.
Here's What We Know
The history of the Northrop Grumman strategic bomber goes back to 1979. It was created under the Advanced Technology Bomber (ATB) programme and was designed to break through the dense air defences of the USSR. The U.S. wanted to buy 132 aircraft, but because of the collapse of the Soviet Union stopped at 21 bombers.
The strategic bombers were accepted into service in 1997. Since then, the U.S. Air Force has lost only one aircraft. This happened back in 2008. It crashed shortly after taking off from Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam. Fortunately, the pilots survived.
It may come as a surprise to many that Lockheed Martin's fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighter jet is not the most expensive aircraft in the world. The F-35 has had three crashes. The US Marine Corps was the first to receive the F-35 and the first to lose the fighter jet. It happened in 2018 when the F-35B crashed in South Carolina. Three years later, the UK Royal Air Force lost an F-35B in the Mediterranean Sea. Last year, an F-35C belonging to the US Navy fell off an aircraft carrier during a landing and An F-35C fighter jet crashed onto the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and plunged into the South China Sea due to pilot error. The total cost of the three aircraft was $335 million, but the B-2 Spirit is worth much more.
On 23 February 2008, the aircraft, number 89-0127, known as the Spirit of Kansas, departed Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, for the island of Guam. The bomber had over 5,000 flight hours (almost 7 months) under its belt. During take-off from its base in Guam, the aircraft became cumbersome. Despite the pilots best efforts, the B-2 Spirit touched the ground with its wings and the pilots ejected. One of them was immediately released from hospital, while the other stayed in hospital for some time. Naturally, after the incident, the flights were halted until the end of April 2008.
An investigation found that the accident was caused by negligence on the part of staff who forgot to activate the air pressure heater. This led to condensation, which caused the control system to give an early command to break away from the runway. If you consider the cost of development, the crash cost the US Air Force $1.4 billion ($2.1 billion in 2023).
Since then, the US Air Force has not lost a single nuclear bomber. However, in 2010, the aircraft with board number 88-0332, known as the Spirit of Washington, was damaged and underwent repairs for 4 years, and the cost of repairs was more than $100 million. Moreover, late last year, the B-2 Spirit made an emergency landing at Whiteman base, after which a fire broke out. Flights are still banned.
