B-1 Bomber Accident: 'Blaze Set Off the Munitions'

First the Air Force said it was a “crash." Then a spokesperson downgraded the incident to a fire that “was contained.” Now newspapers are reporting that last week’s accident involving a B-1 bomber at Al Udeid in Qatar was more serious:

A spokesman for the Al Udeid Air Base told the Gulf
Times that the Ellsworth [S.D.-based] B-1, which was landing after a combat mission, caught fire and the blaze set off the munitions onboard, leading to a series of explosions.

The four crew members, all from Ellsworth, were able to evacuate the plane and escape injury, Air Force officials said Friday. …

*A series of loud explosions was heard in many parts of Doha on Friday night, and people living near the air base said the blasts shook the ground, causing them to flee their homes, assuming that an earthquake had struck, according to the story.*Operations at Al Udeid were shut down for a time, and all the aircraft were diverted to other locations, an Ellsworth spokesman, Tech. Sgt. Steven
Wilson, told the [Rapid City] Journal Friday.

Now at least one lawmaker seems to want to add the 1980s-era B-1s to the long list of worn-out Air Force airplanes:

South Dakota’s congressional delegation reaffirmed its support for the B-1, although Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., expressed concern about the age of the fleet.

“My office keeps in close contact with the base commander and has reached out on both B-1 incidents,” Johnson said in a prepared statement. “Given that both accidents [including one in 2001] occurred on the ground while taxiing, at this time I am not concerned about the safety record of the B-1. However, I am concerned that our as our Air
Force planes continue to age, they are being flown at higher rates. We must be sure that the Air Force is adequately funded and it is for this reason I continue to coordinate with the Air Force to meet necessary funding requirements.”

(Air Force photo)