Hydraulic Malfunction Triggers B-2 Bomber’s Landing Gear Collapse and Fire: Official Report Reveals

In 2022, a malfunction in the hydraulic system of a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber caused the aircraft’s landing gear to fail, resulting in a severe fire and the eventual decommissioning of the plane, as determined by an accident investigation board.

The Air Force released a report on Tuesday that pointed to a design defect in the B-2’s landing gear and a critical error by a firefighting commander who delayed the application of fire suppressant foam as contributing factors to the accident.

The aircraft, part of the 509th Bomb Wing stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and nicknamed the “Spirit of Hawaii,” embarked on a routine flight on December 10, 2022. The flight proceeded without any issues until the bomber started its return to the base.

During the approach to land, the pilot initiated the deployment of the landing gear. While the unlocking of all three landing gear doors commenced smoothly, a valve coupling in the right landing gear’s system malfunctioned, leading to a swift depletion of hydraulic fluid and pressure in the main system, the report detailed.

Cockpit warning indicators alerted the bomber’s crew, prompting the onboard computer to switch to an auxiliary system in an attempt to repressurize the necessary lines to release the right landing gear. Nonetheless, this backup system also began to lose fluid and pressure swiftly, causing the computer to oscillate between the primary and auxiliary systems in search of a solution to deploy the landing gear.

Ultimately, the pilot managed to manually extend the right landing gear successfully, and the crew notified Whiteman’s control tower of an in-flight emergency due to the hydraulic failure, necessitating a landing. The base prepared for an emergency situation, alerting fire, ambulance, and rescue services.

However, upon landing just before 2:30 p.m., the left landing gear malfunctioned, failing to lock and collapsing under the aircraft’s weight.

Realizing the plane was listing to one side with the right landing gear still airborne, the main pilot took decisive action to steer the bomber, exerting full force on the right brake to maintain the runway trajectory, according to the report.

This maneuver caused the left wing to drag extensively along the runway, shredding the wingtip and rupturing a fuel tank, which then ignited a fire.

The bomber came to a halt nearly a mile from where the landing gear failed, leaving behind a fiery trail from the damaged wingtip. Both pilots were unharmed and managed to exit the aircraft safely without needing to eject.

At the crash site, the incident commander initially instructed firefighters to use water instead of foam, mistakenly believing the foam should be reserved for more desperate circumstances. It took approximately three and a half minutes before foam was finally deployed, which is notably more effective against fuel fires than water.

After initially knocking down the external flames, firefighters moved in with hand-held hoses to tackle the internal fire. However, around 3 p.m., 30 minutes after landing, a fuel tank in the left wing exploded, prompting a renewed aggressive foam attack from firefighting trucks.

A second, more powerful explosion occurred ten minutes later, ejecting a large piece of the aircraft’s skin into the air, nearly striking firefighters and scattering debris across the area. This explosion exposed more of the internal fire, allowing direct water application, and the fire was fully extinguished about an hour after the initial crash and fire outbreak.

The investigation concluded that a hydraulic coupling valve failure was the primary cause of the crash. Additionally, a structural weakness in the B-2’s landing gear and the delayed use of foam significantly contributed to the extent of the damage.

The incident resulted in approximately $27,500 in damage to the runway. The extensive damages to the left wing and landing gear, estimated over $300 million, led the Air Force to deem the aircraft beyond repair and subsequently retire it.

Initially costing about $1.2 billion each in the 1990s, the Air Force now operates 19 remaining B-2 bombers, with plans to phase them out in the early 2030s.