After a month-long closure, the runway at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., has reopened and a B-1 bomber that crashed there has been cleared, a 28th Bomb Wing spokesman said Feb. 6.
Meanwhile, some of the B-1s that left the base to train and operate elsewhere have returned, with the entire contingent expected back by the end of the week, the spokesman told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
The runway was initially closed Jan. 4 after a B-1 crashed while attempting to land. Base officials said the closure was necessary to fully document the crash site and conduct a sweep of the airfield for debris needed for the investigation and that could threaten future flight operations.
It was briefly reopened late in January to allow several B-1s to move to Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, to continue training and operations—around 250 Airmen made the move as well. Some of those bombers wound up participating in the Feb. 2 airstrikes over Iraq and Syria.
Now they are starting to return, with the full contingent expected back by the end of the week. The exact number of aircraft that left was never publicly disclosed.
The cause of the Jan. 4 crash also remains undisclosed as investigators continue to probe the incident, the 28th Bomb Wing spokesman said. Four Airmen ejected from the aircraft and survived. The incident occurred during poor weather in below-freezing temperatures with dense fog limiting visibility, according to local weather reports. Radio traffic from local first responders said there was an “active fire” after an “explosion.”
Unofficial imagery that circulated online showed the aircraft severely burned, with significant damage after crashing and skidding off the runway.
The spokesman said engineers from the 28th Civil Engineer Squadron and maintainers from the 28th Maintenance Group, along with other personnel, “teamed up to relocate the wreckage from the side of the runway to another location on the installation where the investigators will continue to complete their review of the accident.”
Should the aircraft be deemed unrepairable, it would mark a significant blow to the Air Force’s B-1 fleet, which consists of just 44 other airframes at this point.
With 17 recently-operational B-1s stored at the “Boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., it may be possible to return a retired B-1 to operational duty, but the Air Force has not said whether it is considering such a move.