Air Force offers scathing critique of Ellsworth command after January bomber crash
B1-B Lancer crashed ahead of Ellsworth Air Force Base runway in early 2024
The United States Air Force is placing the blame for a January plane crash at Ellsworth Air Force Base on the units in charge, and calling out “degradation” of airmanship skills.
The 50-page report by Air Force Global Strike Command out of Louisiana paints a picture of how a culture of “complacency” within the 34th Bomb Squadron and a failure to communicate airfield and weather conditions led to the crash that injured two airmen and completely destroyed a B1-B Lancer aircraft, ultimately costing taxpayers more than $456M.
One such piece of evidence used by investigators to prove this point was a weather sensor on the airfield used to provide required reports to landing crews that went out of service approximately two months before the incident took place. The failing equipment went unnoticed until after the incident.
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“This investigation has shown that many failures leading to this mishap were not a one-time occurrence or an aberration,” Col. Erick Lord, the accident board investigation president, wrote. “I have noted that the mishap occurred due to numerous factors, including a culture of noncompliance, widespread deviation from established policy and procedure, and several organizational influences and preconditions.”
But a poor culture of command from the 34th Bomb Squadron and 28th Bomb Wing wasn’t the only factors that contributed to the crash. The report also details that the crew failed to accurately prepare the aircraft for landing amid poor weather conditions on Jan. 4.
The plane was landing at Ellsworth after a training mission, when it crashed roughly 100 feet short of the runway and skidded more than 5,000 feet before erupting into flames, according to the report. All four crew members on board were ejected, with two of them suffered injuries as a result. Both were taken to a local hospital and treated and eventually released. The runway and subsequent investigation also forced the airfield to close for several weeks following the incident. According to Military.com, 250 airmen and several planes were temporarily relocated to a base in Texas. The Lancer aircraft was a total loss, and the runway was damaged as well — the Air Force estimates that the total cost caused by the mishap is $456,248,485.
The report also notes that one crew member injured was not wearing all of the required safety equipment during the flight. The other injured crew member weighed more than the ejection’s seat recommended 211 pounds, and the Air Force’s recommendation of less than 245. That airman was found to have weighed about 260 lbs shortly after the incident.
“The mishap pilot did not make additional throttle adjustments to achieve the targeted airspeed, and as the mishap aircraft experienced wind shear during the final minute of its approach, the mishap aircraft dropped below glideslope and became thrust deficient,” the report reads. “The mishap crew did not recognize the resulting drop in the mishap aircraft’s vertical velocity before the mishap aircraft became unrecoverable.”
All together, the five factors of failure to perform crew resource management, adverse weather conditions, ineffective flying operations supervision, lack of awareness of the airfield, and an unhealthy organizational culture that “permitted degradation of airmanship skills” contributed to the incident.
“Throughout its investigation, the Accident Investigation Board found unsatisfactory levels of basic airmanship, an inadequate focus on foundational governing directive knowledge, and an overall lack of discipline throughout the 34 (Bomb Squadron),” the report concludes. “The preponderance of the evidence revealed an ineffective and unhealthy culture, which directly contributed to the mishap.”
Air Force Global Strike Command said the chain of command is "in the process of responding to the report and taking the appropriate corrective actions,” Military.com continues.
The report comes at an inopportune time for Ellsworth Air Force Base, as it prepares for the arrival of the top of the line B-21 Raider — which will be replacing the Lancer. The newest aircraft in the force’s fleet will be headquartered out of Ellsworth, bringing hundreds of new service members to the area.
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These findings are an unfortunate indictment of Ellsworth Air Force Base - one that came at great cost to US taxpayers. The only upside is the discovery of "...an unhealthy organizational culture that permitted degradation of airmanship skills" comes at a time when the U.S. isn't facing an international military crisis. We're down one B1-B, but the rest of the issues can hopefully be rectified ASAP....returning that base to better military crisis preparedness. Thank you Dakota Scout for keeping the public abreast of issues like this.
Good to know our forces are ready should we find ourselves in a major conflict.