February 23rd, 2008- a day much like any other,
except in a few minutes the world will see the most expensive aircraft accident in history. By the time the morning is over, the United
States military will have lost 1/60th of Russia's total defense budget in one massive fiery
wreck. Waiting to taxi on the flight line of Andersen
Air Force Base in Guam are two B-2 spirit bombers, the world's most advanced bomber
aircraft. The planes are jam-packed with so much secret
technology, that every single person involved in the operation of the aircraft- from the
mechanics who's job it is to check the tire pressure, to the pilot themselves- must have
at minimum a Secret security clearance. Each plane represents a sizable investment,
with an estimated value of $1.4 billion per plane. Despite their extensive service history though,
not a single B-2 has ever suffered an accident or been lost in combat- until now. The B-2s are in Guam as part of the US's defense
commitments in the Pacific. With a range of well over 10,000 miles (16,000
km) with aerial refueling, the stealthy bombers have one job in the Pacific: be on alert for
a breakout of hostilities against China, and then penetrate their most well-protected air
space and strike at vital military and communications infrastructure. As the world's most advanced bombers, the
B-2s are the only aircraft in the world capable of pulling such a suicidal job off, and have
done so many times before in the past. The plane's tour of duty is over however,
and now the two planes prepare for a long trip back to the continental US for maintenance
and refitting. For the pilots, it's a chance to see their
families again, and the four pilots spread out across the two aircraft are more than
eager to take to the air. The first B-2 soon throttles its engines,
and releases the parking brake to start lumbering forward. The B-2's engines are unlike any other engines
on earth. Within the flying wing design are nestled
four powerful engines able to carry a load of over 300,000 pounds (136,077 kg) up to
an estimated 50,000 feet. That means the B-2 can carry up to 80 500
pound bombs or eight nuclear weapons, all while not compromising its legendary stealth
characteristics. To aid in maintaining that stealth though
the B-2's engines are engineered so that their hot exhaust is rapidly cooled before being
expelled, helping the B-2 to hide even from thermal sensors. The first B-2 soon lifts up into the air in
a picture-perfect ascent, the giant flying wing quickly gaining altitude. An extremely challenging design, the flying
wing is notoriously difficult to fly as it lacks vertical surfaces and requires specialized
horizontal control surfaces to control. The flying wing was initially tested back
in the 1950s, though a spew of crashes and pilot deaths quickly shelved the idea for
another two decades. Designers quickly realized that human beings
alone were incapable of piloting a flying wing, as it required the simultaneous and
careful oversight of numerous control surfaces to keep it in stable flight. In the 1970s advancements in computers finally
made flying wing designs feasible, and by the end of the decade the US government had
secretly built a computer capable of keeping a flying wing designed aircraft in stable
and controlled flight even in the most inclement of weather. Without the computer, pilots would not be
able to keep their B-2 in stable flight for very long and would risk crashing. Yet it would not be the computer that failed
the crew of the Spirit of Kansas this day. With the first B-2 in the air, the second
B-2, Spirit of Kansas, quickly got into position for takeoff. Initial flight checklists had cleared the
aircraft for flight, and the pilots saw no reason for concern as they began to taxi. Unbeknownst to the pilots though, their B-2
was suffering from a very serious, and completely undetectable flaw. Aircraft typically have various air flow sensors
throughout their body that helps the flight computer determine things such as pressure,
altitude, wind speed, and all matter of other data needed for high precision flying. On non-stealthy aircraft these sensors are
typically on the body or wings of the aircraft and exposed to incoming air via small holes
that allows them to collect their data. For a stealthy B-2, this would not be an option. The flying wing design was always known to
be inherently stealthy, as the lack of vertical surfaces meant that radar returns from most
angles would be either deflected or very weak. This is one of the secrets to successful stealth
technology, and it is a myth that a stealth aircraft can simply fly straight to their
target and through any radar undetected. In truth, stealth pilots carefully navigate
a pre-planned route that requires knowledge of enemy radar emplacements, then as they
fly to their target, they fly a route that presents the stealthiest angle of their aircraft
to enemy radar. No stealth aircraft is 100% stealthy from
all angles, that is sadly a physical impossibility. So instead, pilots must understand their aircraft's
stealth features extremely well, and need good intelligence on actual or suspected enemy
radar emplacements. Then the stealth aircraft will simply fly
a round-about route that might require several turns in order to provide the smallest signature
possible to enemy radar and hopefully either go undetected, or provide such a weak return
that a weapons lock is impossible. For the B-2, any opening in the flying wing
body would completely compromise its stealth, and thus embedded sensors with openings for
airflow were not an option. Engineers would simply need to make a scientific
breakthrough and create sensors that could be placed on the skin of the aircraft itself. Incredibly, the B-2 designers managed to do
just that, though the details remain highly classified. The sensors though would require very careful
maintenance- in fact, the B-2 is the most expensive aircraft to maintain in the world,
and the most maintenance intensive. Each flight hour would cost well over $100,000
in maintenance costs, and over 100 man-hours of actual maintenance. But when you're dealing with the most advanced
flight and stealth technology in the world, this is hardly surprising- and a major reason
why only the United States can afford to operate the legendary bomber. Unfortunately though on that morning, the
maintenance crews had made one crucial mistake. As the B-2 lumbered down the runway, it began
to pitch up into the sky. Control of the B-2's flying wing design is
so difficult, that the pilots require computer assistance even just for taking off. The computer in turn requires good data from
air-data sensors spread out across the aircraft's skin. This morning, it would get bad data from three
different sensors, dooming the big plane. While on ready status, the B-2 must be kept
within a specialized multi-million dollar mobile hangar that is pre-deployed to anywhere
in the world that B-2s operate from. These hangars are air-conditioned and protect
not just the aircraft from harm, but the classified stealth coating which must be frequently reapplied. In the days leading up to the Spirit of Kansas's
return home, Guam had suffered from massive rain storms, and all that rain had led to
accumulation of condensation inside of the plane's air-data sensors. The condensation had led to maintenance crews
improperly calibrating the B-2's computer for flight operations, and now the big plane
would suffer for it. Due to faulty data, the computer immediately
calculated an inaccurate angle of attack, leading it to believe that instead of perfectly
level flight as it lumbered down the runway, the aircraft was actually pitched down just
slightly. As the plane's wheels left the ground, the
computer then compensated, still believing it was pitched too low to gain altitude, and
immediately put the aircraft into a steep 30 degree pitch upwards. The computer's faulty sensor data also led
it to believe it was moving faster than it actually was, which is what allowed the computer
to make such a steep and sudden pitch upwards. Moving at such low take-off speeds though,
the sudden pitch induced a great deal of drag and compromised the aerodynamic properties
of the aircraft. Within seconds the aircraft started yawing
left and the left wing gouged into the ground. The pilots fought the controls to save the
aircraft but were unable to- the plane was in an unrecoverable stall. With just seconds before the B-2 crashed back
to the runway and exploded in a massive fireball, the pilots ejected, safely clearing the massive
explosion that quickly followed. Luckily, the planes weren't carrying any ordnance,
only an as-yet classified payload which must not have been explosive. Though both pilots survived the accident,
one would have to be hospitalized for injuries sustained in the sudden and violent ejection. In just the span of 30 seconds, the United
States lost $1.4 billion dollars and compromised its abilities to respond against aggression
by an advanced adversary. To compensate for the single B-2, six B-52s
had to be immediately mobilized and dispatched to Guam, proving just how incredibly powerful
and capable these advanced machines are. In service for almost 40 years though, these
incredible aircraft remain the most advanced bombers ever created, even as the US prepares
to reveal to the world the successor to the B-2, the B-21 Raider. If the thought of losing $1.4 billion dollars
in a single go makes you wince as hard as it does us, maybe we can help take your mind
off this massive loss of taxpayer money with this great video over here, or maybe you prefer
this other one instead! Either way, click one now, because unlike
that B-2 on that fateful day, we guarantee you our video's aren't a complete disaster!
