Air Power grounds full B-2 fleet just after emergency landing

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Pressure has grounded its full fleet of B-2 stealth bombers subsequent an unexpected emergency landing and fire earlier this thirty day period, and none of the strategic aircraft will accomplish flyovers at this years’ school bowl video games.

A bomber professional an in-flight malfunction on Dec. 10, forcing it to make an emergency landing at Whiteman Air Force Foundation in St. Louis, Mo., where by it caught fire. The hearth was extinguished and there have been no injuries.

The standdown is major in that there are much less than 20 stealth bombers in the overall fleet and the aircraft presents, together with the B-52 Stratofortress, the air leg of the nation’s nuclear triad. The B-2 has been often deployed to the Indo-Pacific and more recently to Europe as a exhibit of power. During the standdown the full fleet will be inspected, 509th Bomb Wing spokeswoman Air Power Grasp Sgt. Beth Del Vecchio claimed.

The B-2 was scheduled to fly about the 2023 Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game but it will be changed by the B-1 Lancer, the 509th Bomb Wing stated in a statement.

The B-2 stealth bomber took its initially flight in 1989 and its flying-wing design and style fashioned the base of its eventual substitution, the B-21 Raider, which was introduced this thirty day period. The B-21 is scheduled to make its to start with flight future year.

In Sept. 2021 an additional B-2 at Whiteman experienced to make an emergency landing right after the hydraulics process failed, resulting in the bomber’s landing equipment collapsing. The bomber’s left wing dragged for about a mile in advance of the plane arrived to a halt, ensuing in at least $10 million in hurt to the aircraft.