B-2 crashed because moisture confused sensors

By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jun 5, 2008 17:41:22 EDT

The most expensive crash in Air Force history — the $1.4 billion loss of a B-2 Spirit bomber Feb. 23 — was caused by water clogging aircraft sensors, according to an Air Combat Command report issued Thursday.

Moisture in three of the 24 sensors that feed information into the bomber’s computer system caused the sensors to send bad information about the plane’s speed and altitude, and how far up or down the bomber’s nose was pointed.

As the jet took off from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, the onboard computer thought the B-2 was pointed downward, causing the nose to jerk suddenly upward.

The two pilots couldn’t regain control of the bomber and as the left wing struck the runway, the pilots safely ejected.

Watch Air Force video
B-2 crash from surveillance camera

B-2 crash from ground camera

The investigation didn’t fault the performance of pilots Maj. Ryan Link and Capt. Justin Grieve, both assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. The report also cleared maintainers of any missteps.

Maintainers were aware that high humidity on Guam could result in sensors clogging up with water but thought the sensor problems were solved prior to takeoff. Also, the pilots saw no avionics readings that would have led to aborting the takeoff.

 

oh good god.... gotta love your millions of dollars and top secret technology that they still cant figure out....


they can give you 2 million ways to kill somebody but cant figure out how to make a plane that you can override the electronic controls

hey at least the pilots made it out ok...


:edit: if they pay me a few million... i wil show them how to drill a hole in the control console.... install 2 way toggle switch.... hook computer main feed to toggle switch... disaster avoided.....



redneck wisdom FTW

 

damn....

Dustin

 

have you seen a b-2 or have any idea how they work? I personally work on the raptor, and some good buddies of mine work on other stealth models, the planes are intentionally built with terrible stability to make them more maneuverable. The b-2 has been around for quite a while and weve only lost 1, how many people on this forum have been driving 20-25 years accident free? Common **** happens.

 

dont take it personally bro... i was just joking....

 

dude I gotta be bitter thats my job security... but seriously if you guys had any idea how badass the f-22 is you would WANT us to pick a fight with Iran and China, they would never know what hit them till we paid Israel to take the blame.

 

haha rust me bro.. i have a pretty good idea... i have a few friends and a lil family who work within the system... theres alot to it... i was just jokin around though.. you can never take something on here too seriously

 

haha, +1. That thing is ****** SICK! I wanted to be a fighter pilot till I realized I'd have to be a bitch for 20+ yrs of my life just to get a foot in the door. But still bad *** technology. God bless you and thank you for serving our great country

 

I left the front lines today, I head to R&D to be their bitch here in a few weeks out in southern california. Thank you I am very proud to serve.

 

So whatever happened to humans taking off a plane?