B-52 Crash Not Linked To Aerobatic Maneuvers, Official Says -- Air Force Secretary Calls Reports Untrue

SPOKANE - A B-52 bomber that crashed at Fairchild Air Force Base was not performing aerobatic maneuvers, despite media reports to the contrary, Air Force Secretary Sheila Widnall says.

"In the initial stages of our investigation of the Fairchild AFB incident, the Air Force has found nothing to verify speculative statements appearing in the press" about aerobatic maneuvers, Widnall wrote in a letter to House Speaker Tom Foley. "We assure you that all aspects of the incident will be thoroughly investigated."

Widnall's letter came in response to a request from Foley, D-Wash., and Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash, who asked whether Air Force policy for heavy aircraft - bombers and tankers - might have been violated before the June 24 crash.

Widnall wrote that she is confident that current regulations "provide adequate guidance for the safe and professional performance of flyovers by heavy aircraft."

Regulations developed by the Air Combat Command, which oversees Fairchild, state that bombers and tankers normally perform only straight, level flyovers during air shows, not aerobatic maneuvers, Widnall wrote.

Flyovers "are defined as `a straight and level flight, by no more than four aircraft, over a fixed point, and not involving aerobatics or aircraft demonstrations,' " Widnall wrote.

"When B-52s perform flyovers, Air Force regulations specify a minimum altitude of 500 feet above ground level and a maximum airspeed of stall plus 30 percent. Additionally, B-52 technical orders and standard-operating procedures specify the use of no more than 30 degrees of bank angle when turning. Normal climb is 6-8 degrees," Widnall wrote Foley.

Eyewitnesses to last Friday's crash said the plane was practicing maneuvers in which it would swoop low over the runway, then pull up in a steep, banking climb. Some said the plane appeared to be flying slowly at an altitude of 200-300 feet before the crash.

The Air Force identified Lt. Col. Arthur A. "Bud" Holland as the plane's pilot but would not say whether he, or one of three other aviators aboard, was at the controls at the time of the crash.

All four airmen were killed when the plane plunged to the ground in a giant fireball.