Commander at Ellsworth Air Force Base Fired Following Scathing Accident Report into B-1B Lancer Crash
Published August 02, 2024 at 5:35 pm
The commander of the 28th Operations Group at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota has been fired from his job, after a damning report into a B-1B Lancer crash released last week blamed the training culture for contributing to the accident.
Col. Mark Kimball, the 28th Operations Group commander, was relieved of command Friday "due to a loss of trust and confidence in his ability to command, based on the findings of an Accident Investigation Board report into the Jan. 4 crash of a B-1B bomber at Ellsworth," according to a press release from Air Force Global Strike Command. A permanent replacement has not yet been named.
The report examined the factors that caused a $450 million B-1B Lancer to miss the runway by 100 feet and crash Jan. 4, causing the four crew members to eject. As a result of the incident, two of the crew members were injured, the runway was damaged and had to be temporarily closed, and some of the base's bombers and crew were temporarily relocated to Texas.
While the report pointed to a range of factors in the accident, including the weather, it also identified "an unhealthy organizational culture that permitted degradation of airmanship skills."
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/08/02/commander-ellsworth-air-force-base-fired-following-scathing-accident-report-b-1b-lancer-crash.html
