Associated Press
Sunday, February 24, 2008

HAGATNA, Guam, Feb. 23 -- A B-2 stealth bomber plunged to the ground shortly after taking off from an air base in Guam on Saturday, but both pilots ejected safely, Air Force officials said.

It was the first crash of the billion-dollar bomber in its 15-year history, Air Force officials said.

The aircraft was taking off with three others about 10:30 a.m. on their last flight out of Guam, said Maj. Eric Hilliard at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. The bombers were ending a four-month deployment to the western Pacific, part of a continuous U.S. bomber presence in the region.

At least one B-2 had taken off safely from Andersen Air Force Base but was brought back after the crash. The other three bombers were kept on Guam, Hilliard said. A board of officers will investigate what caused the crash.

There were no injuries on the ground or damage to buildings, and no munitions were on board. Each B-2 bomber costs about $1.2 billion to build.

The Air Force, without identifying the pilots, said one was medically evaluated and released, and the other was in stable condition at Guam Naval Hospital.

Thick, black smoke could be seen billowing from the wreckage at Andersen, said Jeanne Ward, who was on the base visiting her husband.

Ward said she did not witness the crash but noticed a plume of smoke behind the base's air control tower.

She said crowds began to gather as emergency vehicles arrived. "Everybody was on their cellphones, and the first thing everyone wanted to know was, did the pilots make it out in time," she said.

All 21 stealth bombers are based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, but the Air Force has rotated several of them through Guam since 2004, along with B-1 and B-52 bombers. The rotations are designed to boost the U.S. security presence in the Asia-Pacific region while other U.S. forces are deployed to the Middle East.

The B-2 was first publicly displayed in 1988 and took its first flight a year later. The first bomber was delivered to Whiteman in 1993.

The bombers on Guam were scheduled to return to Missouri now that six B-52s from the 96th Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., have arrived to replace them.

The distinctive B-2 is described as a "multi-role bomber" that blends stealth technology with a highly efficient aerodynamic design. It is able to deliver large payloads at great range and has been used in combat over Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.