Update (1029 EST): Official confirmation from the U.S. Air Force:
Update (2154 EST): Further reporting on the strays of three crew:
Update (2147 EST): The crew is reportedly safe after ejecting. The U.S. Air Force has not confirmed this.
At approximately 2120 EST, emergency vehicles responded to an incident on Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. By 2135 EST, eyewitnesses heard a large explosion at the air base. According to a popular Air Force Facebook page, the crew ejected as the aircraft went down in dense fog. The aircraft reportedly had a crew of four.
Well whatever it was there was a shit ton of sirens and a loud crash. My house actually shook after the impact. pic.twitter.com/Q6Y95qpD4m
— Tom (@605talex) January 5, 2024
These details have not been confirmed and the status of the aircraft and crew is unknown at this time.
The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing (28 BW). Assigned to the Global Strike Command’s Eighth Air Force, the 28 BW is one of the USAF’s two B-1B Lancer wings, along with the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess AFB, Texas.
The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force. It is one of three strategic bombers serving in the U.S. Air Force fleet along with the B-2 Spirit and the B-52 Stratofortress as of 2023.
