The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, typically crewed by five people, is a long-range bomber that entered service in 1955. Designed to carry both conventional and nuclear weapons, it has been used in conflicts ranging from the Vietnam War to recent operations in the Middle East.

Edwards, the vast desert base where Chuck Yeager broke the speed of sound in 1947, is about 100 miles (161 km) north of Los Angeles.

The crash comes almost a year after the pilot of a regional airliner flying over North Dakota made an unexpected sharp turn to avoid a possible midair collision with a military B-52 bomber that was in its flight path last July.