A B-1 Lancer bomber from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota crashed Thursday, with all four of its crew members ejecting, the Air Force said.
The B-1 crashed “at approximately 5:50 p.m. today while attempting to land on the installation. At the time of the accident, it was on a training mission. There were four aircrew on board. All four ejected safely,” the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth said in a statement.
At the time of the crash visibility was poor with freezing temperatures and low clouds, according to automated weather reporting equipment recording airfield conditions.
It was about 3 in the morning in the middle of Wyoming when I needed to go to the bathroom. So, I stopped on the side of the road. While I was doing my business, a B-1 came out of nowhere about 500 feet off the ground doing sub mach, thankfully, right over me. Scared the hell out of me.
Went from number 1 to number 2 in an instant.
First, the beginning of your post sounds like the opening line to Jimmy Buffett’s “The Devil I Know”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9WBXNW8Kj4
Second, my favorite experience with the B-1 was at the Edwards AFB air show. They were at max power, full afterburner, but near stall - the nose was pointed way up and they were just crawling across the sky. The ground shook; the cars were parked on the flightline (pre-9/11), and every car alarm went off at the same time. It was awesome.
Man. I was going for Hunter Thompson.
It doesn’t even take that much to set off car alarms. I I’ve seen it happen from an F/A-18 cruising at a low altitude. Those fuckers are loud!
Man, I love that song so much