{"id":71262,"date":"2026-06-18T17:18:46","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T21:18:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=71262"},"modified":"2026-06-18T17:18:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T21:18:57","slug":"the-air-force-officially-identified-all-eight-crew-members-who-were-killed-when-a-b-52-bomber-crashed-earlier-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/the-air-force-officially-identified-all-eight-crew-members-who-were-killed-when-a-b-52-bomber-crashed-earlier-this-week\/","title":{"rendered":"The Air Force officially identified all eight crew members who were killed when a B-52 bomber crashed earlier this week"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It is a deeply tragic situation. On Wednesday, June 17, 2026, officials at Edwards Air Force Base officially released the identities of the eight crew members who lost their lives in the B-52H Stratofortress crash that occurred shortly after takeoff on Monday, June 15.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mixed crew\u2014comprising active-duty airmen, a reservist, government civilians, and contractors\u2014was acting as a Combined Test Force supporting the Air Force’s Radar Modernization Program.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n

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The Crew Members Honored<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Col. Gregory Watson<\/strong>, 53 \u2013 Weapon Systems Officer (Boeing employee and Air Force Reservist from Shreveport, La.) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Lt. Col. Gabriel Estrella<\/strong>, 40 \u2013 Weapon Systems Officer (Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, Detachment 5) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Retired Lt. Col. Miles Middleton<\/strong>, 50 \u2013 Pilot (Boeing contractor from Tehachapi, Calif.) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Maj. Alexander Davis<\/strong>, 34 \u2013 Weapon Systems Officer (419th Flight Test Squadron) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Maj. Robert Dee<\/strong>, 40 \u2013 Pilot (419th Flight Test Squadron) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Maj. Brad Hovey<\/strong>, 35 \u2013 Pilot (419th Flight Test Squadron) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Jeromy Smith<\/strong>, 32 \u2013 Flight Test Engineer (Civilian Department of Defense employee, 419th Flight Test Squadron) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Christopher Rischar<\/strong>, 41 \u2013 Flight Test Engineer (Contractor with JT4 from Lancaster, Calif.) <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Details of the Incident<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The aircraft involved was a specialized B-52H (Tail number 60-0061, nicknamed the “Spirit of Aggieland”<\/em>).<\/sup> It had recently been outfitted with a modernized, active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar system designed to help extend the operational lifespan of the B-52 fleet through 2050.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • The Crash:<\/strong> The bomber took off at approximately 11:20 a.m. PDT on Monday for a routine test mission. According to initial flight tracking data, the plane made a sharp turn and entered a rapid descent, crashing directly back onto the airfield property where it immediately caught fire. Military Times+ 1<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • The Investigation:<\/strong> Emergency services responded immediately, but officials quickly determined the crash was unsurvivable. A formal Air Force Accident Investigation Board has been convened to determine the cause of the mechanical or flight control failure, a process that officials note could take up to six months.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      It is a deeply tragic situation. On Wednesday, June 17, 2026, officials at Edwards Air Force Base officially released the identities of the eight crew members who lost their lives… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDZcL2ltYWdlcy0xLTYud2VicD9maXQ9NzM4JTJDNDE0JnNzbD0xIiwidHh0IjoiVGhlIEFpciBGb3JjZSBvZmZpY2lhbGx5IGlkZW50aWZpZWQgYWxsIGVpZ2h0IGNyZXcgbWVtYmVycyB3aG8gd2VyZSBraWxsZWQgd2hlbiBhIEItNTIgYm9tYmVyIGNyYXNoZWQgZWFybGllciB0aGlzIHdlZWsiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImRvaXMiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.wFHlVvlDkPi4CMwsC-7Z0roT90M0pLhKzylp-8HfVjcMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA2XC9pbWFnZXMtMS02LndlYnAiLCJ0eHQiOiJUaGUgQWlyIEZvcmNlIG9mZmljaWFsbHkgaWRlbnRpZmllZCBhbGwgZWlnaHQgY3JldyBtZW1iZXJzIHdobyB3ZXJlIGtpbGxlZCB3aGVuIGEgQi01MiBib21iZXIgY3Jhc2hlZCBlYXJsaWVyIHRoaXMgd2VlayIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.qDtaDoBV_d6LzKG5XLntChMvu3DnuFpHi6B4bSnc3rgMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[14910],"class_list":["post-71262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional-and-world-news","tag-the-air-force-officially-identified-all-eight-crew-members-who-were-killed-when-a-b-52-bomber-crashed-earlier-this-week"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71262"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71267,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71262\/revisions\/71267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}