On February 23, 2008, at approximately 10:30 a.m. local time, one of the most effective bombers in the world crashed on the island of Guam. A few moments after takeoff, the B-2 Spirit strategic bomber began to descend for reasons unknown to the pilots. The crew struggled to regain control of the bomber, but its left wing grazed the runway, and both pilots ejected — one suffered a spinal injury, but, fortunately, the incident was without casualties.

The incident ended in a matter of seconds, but caused $2 billion in losses, making it the most expensive plane crash in history. The B-2 plane, capable of flattening entire cities, crashed just because of a simple change in the weather.

THE $2 BILLION CRASH: WHY THE AMERICAN B-2 BOMBER "SPIRIT OF KANSAS" CRASHED

The B-2 bomber, known as the Spirit of Kansas, has been on the territory of Guam for four months. Four B-2s were stationed at Andersen Air Force Base as a deterrent to North Korea and China.

The bomber was supposed to take off on the morning of February 23 as part of a group of two aircraft. The flight to Missouri was supposed to last more than 16 hours with two in-flight refuelings. Both pilots loaded their personal gear, secret documents and “long—term crew comfort equipment” on board the aircraft, which the B-2 pilot once described as folding deck chairs for sleeping. The crew started the engines and began to perform a pre-flight check.

Chronicle of the incident

As soon as the pilots and ground crew made sure that the plane was ready for takeoff, the B-2 taxied onto the runway of the Andersen military base. The B-2 pilots did not know that due to the high humidity in Guam, the aircraft's data analysis system was receiving incorrect information. According to the sensors, the plane was 208 meters above sea level, which differed by 41 meters rom the real mark, but the crew, temporarily assigned from Missouri, did not know the correct value and did not notice the error.

When the aircraft began to move along the runway, the main pilot's warning light lit up, as well as the warning light of the flight control system, which went out six seconds later. The co-pilot studied the problem and quickly concluded that the malfunction had been fixed; the aircraft was still ready for takeoff. Twenty-one seconds later, the pilot began the takeoff.

The pilots did not know that the aircraft's onboard sensors (PTU), the same sensors that gave out incorrect altitude data, also incorrectly displayed the aircraft's speed. According to the sensors, the plane was traveling along the runway at a speed of 262 kilometers per hour, which is a safe speed for takeoff, instead of the real 243 kilometers per hour.

When the bomber lifted off the ground, the B-2 automatic Flight control System (FCS), acting on the basis of erroneous data, considered that the aircraft was actually in a steep peak. To avoid a crash, FCS initiated a steep 30 degree climb, an action that triggered the subsequent crash. Due to the low speed, large amounts of fuel and inertia, the aircraft could not gain altitude, and began to descend. The pilot tried to regain control, but it turned out to be impossible. The bomber touched the runway with its left wing, and the pilots instantly ejected.

Video: animation of the B-2 bomber crash

The pilots were quickly assisted: the first pilot suffered only minor injuries, while the co-pilot suffered a compression fracture of the spine as a result of the ejection, but eventually fully recovered. The wreckage of the former Spirit of Kansas, scattered over an area of more than 16,200 square meters, burned for six hours.

The results of the investigation: the banal causes of the bomber crash

As a result of the investigation, the cause of the crash was named as a data failure in the flight control system, which incorrectly controlled the bomber. Like many modern aircraft, the B-2 uses on-board computers and an electronic interface instead of mechanical flight control systems. The on-board system makes decisions about how the aircraft should fly based on data received from sensors. Like any decision-making process, the final result depends on the reliability of the information on which these decisions are based.

Due to the high humidity in Guam, moisture accumulated on the sensors of the aircraft, as a result of which the instruments gave out incorrect data about the environment. This data caused the computer system to start taking off before the plane had gained enough speed, and then showed that it was in a steep peak, although in fact it was gaining altitude.

During the investigation of the incident, a technical error was recognized as the cause of the crash, and the pilots were relieved of responsibility for the incident. It also turned out that the maintenance staff, who previously participated in the work of the B-2 in Guam in 2006, had already noticed incorrect sensor readings. The engineers recommended that the pilots activate the built-in heating in advance so that the sensors could dry out. However, this recommendation was never officially recorded and was never implemented in subsequent bomber flights. As a result of the plane crash, an item was added to the standard pre-flight preparation process to turn on sensor heating before takeoff.

The bomber was beyond repair, and what was left of the aircraft was disassembled and sent to Edwards Air Force Base in California to investigate the causes of the crash. At the current dollar exchange rate, the cost of the B-2 Spirit is approximately $ 2 billion.

The accident was an expensive lesson for the US Air Force, showing that even the most high-tech equipment can be disabled just because of local weather conditions.