8 people dead after B-52 bomber crashes at US military base

The aircraft crashed at California's Edwards Air Force base. An investigation is now underway into the cause of the disaster.

Eight people were killed after a US Air Force B-52 bomber crashed shortly after takeoff at Edwards Air Force base in California.

"We lost eight great Americans," James Hayes, the deputy commander at Edwards Air Force Base, said at a news conference.

Aerial footage showed virtually nothing left of the aircraft that went down around 11:20 a.m. local time, the base said.

The entire airfield was closed and all inbound flights were diverted after the aircraft went down.

Emergency crews responded immediately after the crash but the air base said in an earlier social media post that initial indications were that "the crash was not survivable."

The crew onboard were engaged in routine test mission before the disaster. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Edwards Air Force Base is about 100 miles (161 km) north of Los Angeles and is home to a large portion of the Air Force's aircraft test and development efforts.

What's a B-52 bomber?

The aircraft that went down was aBoeing B-52 bomber, officially known as the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.

The jets entered service in 1995.

The crew onboard were engaged in routine test mission before the disaster.  

Edited by: Wesley Dockery

This is a breaking news story and will be updated...