WASHINGTON, April 4, 2008

U.S. Bomber Catches Fire At Base In Qatar

B-1 Bomber's Munitions Explode On Runway Of Air Force Base In Gulf Nation; Crew Not Hurt

    • U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer jet bomber in flight, file photo

      U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer jet bomber in flight, file photo  (AP)

    •  (AP)

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(CBS/AP)  The U.S. military said Friday that all four crew members safely evacuated from a B-1 bomber that caught fire after landing at an Air Force Base in the Middle East.

The Air Force says the bomber was taxiing after landing at al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar and caught fire. Few details are available, although the Air Force says the aircraft was involved in a ground incident.

A State Department official says the B-1 bomber caught fire at the end of a runway and some of its munitions exploded, reports CBS News State Department reporter Charles Wolfson.

Al-Udeid is the headquarters of all American air operations in the Middle East. The incident is under investigation.

In February, a B-2 stealth bomber plunged to the ground shortly after taking off from an air base in Guam, the first time one crashed, but both pilots ejected safely.



© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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by feelfree1 April 6, 2008 7:42 AM EDT

Re: "Feely, Your glee mystifies me..."

Posted by ToolMangler

Who am I to demystify you?
Reply to this comment
by thgdriver April 5, 2008 3:26 PM EDT
As usual we don''t have enough info. I will speculate that a hydraulic line to the brakes kinked this caused the brakes to drag. This caused over heating that set the tires on fire. This caused fuel to catch fire. this caused armaments to explode.

Bottom line----$100 dollar hydraulic line = loss of 200,000,000 dollar aircraft. I''ll pass the hat.
Reply to this comment
by toolmangler-2009 April 5, 2008 2:48 PM EDT
This is two less bombers available to murder and maim the people of Iraq and Afghanistan!
Posted by FeelFree1 at 04:47 PM : Apr 04, 2008




Feely, Your glee mystifies me, Without human interaction, these planes hurt no one, Just like a gun (if left alone) kills no one, a Car if sitting in a parking lot, injures no one. It takes a human to make these things deadly. The one thing that happens if a machine is detroyed is that it ''will'' be replaced at the cost of many ''tax dollars''. I will have to bear some of this tax burden. If you were a American (USA) citizen, you would bear some of this burden also. Get angry with the leaders, not the poor citizens. If the leaders did not agree to start a war then there would be no war. (mitigating circumstances aside)
Reply to this comment
by thgdriver April 5, 2008 2:02 PM EDT
I am glad the crew is ok. These things were junk from day one. I seem to recall they were grounded numerous times for technical problems.

Reply to this comment
by ioweign April 5, 2008 1:38 PM EDT
Excuse me people...but this is a ''''mechanical'''' issue..nothing more...nothing less...has your car ever had a breakdown?.

Posted by guadalcanal3 at 07:51 PM : Apr 04, 2008

I have never had a fire in my car. If you did a cost comparison, the price for this thing - it should be able to fix itself...
Reply to this comment
by newsjunky5 April 5, 2008 3:36 AM EDT
Are the B-1 bomber pilots allowed to have pistols in the cockpit?
Reply to this comment
by ioweign April 5, 2008 12:10 AM EDT
U.S. Bomber Catches Fire At Base In Qatar



Are they outsourcing the preventive maintenance to Southwest Airway...
Reply to this comment
by speakinup April 4, 2008 11:40 PM EDT
oh - look at that feelfree has a new stat to work with.

So feelfree - are you still among the one person in the world outside of Cuba and Venzuenla that likes hugo. yup...
Reply to this comment
by guadalcanal3 April 4, 2008 10:51 PM EDT
Excuse me people...but this is a ''mechanical'' issue..nothing more...nothing less...has your car ever had a breakdown?.
Reply to this comment
by hunter10039 April 4, 2008 9:19 PM EDT
A "GROUND INCIDENT" ????

now what do you suppose THAT could be??? (Rhetorical question, of course !!!)

Of course they would NOT admit that a terrorist gained access right there at the base.

It probably was one that caused the "incident" in some manner, but they wont admiit it to "save face"


Reply to this comment
by trishab4 April 4, 2008 8:53 PM EDT
The military is no longer the one inherited by Bush from Clinton ... after seven years its'''''''' his military. He needs to accept ownership of the problems.

Posted by Tahut at 05:28 PM : Apr 04, 2008

Don''''t be a mindless zombie by turning this into a Bush issue!! It''''s been done and gets nowhere!!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by jamesm12341 at 05:30 PM : Apr 04, 2008

-Bush is an idiot. He just doesn''t know how to...! are you happy now? and it''ll go somewhere.
Reply to this comment
by tahut April 4, 2008 8:33 PM EDT
Sorry for all the posts ... seems I experienced an internet hiccup when I pushed the "publish" button
Reply to this comment
by feelfree1 April 4, 2008 8:32 PM EDT

Re: "you need help"

Posted by jamesm12341

All that I can get.

Somehow I doubt that you are someone that I can count on for that help.

Are you among the 14% of imbecilic Americans that still think our country is moving in the right direction?

Are you among the 4% of shockingly stupid Americans that think we are somehow better off than we were 5 years ago?

These people look an awful lot like dead weight, don''t you think?
Reply to this comment
by tahut April 4, 2008 8:30 PM EDT
Odd that there have been three major problems concerning the USAF bomber wing since the start of the year. Makes one wonder if enough attention is being paid by both air and ground crews.

First, the movement of live nukes within the US and no one knew about it until after; very big no-no. Second the B-1 in Guam that crashed on take-off. Now, this one that somehow "caught fire", the crew safely excapes, but its on-board munition goes BOOM and the aircraft with it.

Perhaps its'' an indication the military is streched too thin to adequately control the assets assigned.

The military is no longer the one inherited by Bush from Clinton ... after seven years its'' his military. He needs to accept ownership of the problems.
Reply to this comment
by tahut April 4, 2008 8:28 PM EDT
Odd that there have been three major problems concerning the USAF bomber wing since the start of the year. Makes one wonder if enough attention is being paid by both air and ground crews.

First, the movement of live nukes within the US and no one knew about it until after; very big no-no. Second the B-1 in Guam that crashed on take-off. Now, this one that somehow "caught fire", the crew safely excapes, but its on-board munition goes BOOM and the aircraft with it.

Perhaps its'' an indication the military is streched too thin to adequately control the assets assigned.

The military is no longer the one inherited by Bush from Clinton ... after seven years its'' his military. He needs to accept ownership of the problems.
Reply to this comment
by trishab4 April 4, 2008 8:25 PM EDT
The Air Force says the bomber was taxiing after landing at al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar ...

-after being called by a client... Do they need work permit out there?
Reply to this comment
by trishab4 April 4, 2008 8:24 PM EDT
The Air Force says the bomber was taxiing after landing at al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar ...

-after being called by a client... Do they need work permit out there?
Reply to this comment
by feelfree1 April 4, 2008 8:10 PM EDT

SgtRDS,

Re: "I just hope the crews are ok...."

From the article-

"...the B-1 bomber caught fire at the end of a runway...The crew was not hurt."

"In February, a B-2 stealth bomber plunged to the ground shortly after taking off...but both pilots ejected safely."
Reply to this comment
by sgtrds April 4, 2008 8:06 PM EDT
I just hope the crews are ok................
Reply to this comment
by feelfree1 April 4, 2008 7:47 PM EDT

Re: "B-1 Bomber''s Munitions Explode On Runway Of Air Force Base In Gulf Nation; Crew Not Hurt"

Re: "In February, a B-2 stealth bomber plunged to the ground shortly after taking off from an air base in Guam"

Thank goodness!

This is two less bombers available to murder and maim the people of Iraq and Afghanistan!

And to think that some people claim that CBS does not report the "good" news....
Reply to this comment
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