Washington [US], February 27: A US Air Force B-52H bomber had to make an emergency landing at a base in North Dakota recently due to an engine fire.
On February 26, The War Zone reported that a B-52 H bomber made an emergency landing at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota due to a fire in one of the eight TF33 engines . The fire was successfully extinguished when the plane landed and no one on board was injured.
Officials at the Minot base confirmed the incident and said they were investigating further. According to the announcement, the B-52H, an aircraft nicknamed the Flying Fortress , made an emergency landing on February 23 at the Minot base due to an engine fire. The fire brigade quickly arrived at the scene to put out the fire.
The extent of damage to this strategic bomber is unknown. Images posted on the air force's unofficial Facebook page show significant damage to the B-52H's engine. The outer shell of the engine appeared to have been removed or burned away and there was liquid flowing from the engine onto the tanker below.
This is the first time an incident involving a B-52 H bomber engine has occurred at the Minot base. In 2017, a TF33 engine of a B-52 fell off while the plane was in the air near Minot. This engine fell in a sparsely populated area and did not injure anyone while the plane returned safely to base. Also that year, a photographer captured the moment sparks flew from the engine of a B-52 from Barksdale base, Louisiana.
The US Air Force is campaigning to replace the TF33 engines of all 76 B-52Hs with Rolls-Royce's new F130. The TF33 has been discontinued since 1985 and is only used on a few aircraft globally.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
