(UnitedVoice.com) – On December 10, a B-2 stealth bomber experienced an in-air malfunction. The plane had to make an emergency landing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. While on the ground, it caught fire. Shortly after, the Air Force grounded the entire fleet.
The Air Force Times reported a spokesperson for the military branch confirmed the grounding of all 20 of the bombers. There’s now a hunt to find out whether any of the other planes have safety defects. The Air Force refuses to provide any other details about what investigators are looking for or the nature of the defect that caused the malfunction in early December.
The Air Force declined to provide details about what, specifically, the safety inspections are looking to find. https://t.co/wjwA2Wzwpo
— Military Times (@MilitaryTimes) December 19, 2022
The incident didn’t result in any reported injuries. The B-2 bombers have been in service since the 1990s and are the most nuclear-capable aircraft in the fleet. Master Sgt. Beth Del Vecchio, a spokesperson for the 509th Bomb Wing, told the Air Force Times that the Air Force is “currently evaluating what went wrong and how we can mitigate future risk.”
The Air Force had scheduled a B-2 bomber flyover at the 2023 Rose Bowl Game and the 2023 Rose Parade. However, in light of the recent events, the military branch replaced the aircraft with the B-1 Lancer.
The news about the malfunction comes ahead of the release of a new plane, the B-21 stealth bomber, next year.
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