On Mar. 10, 1986, a USAF B-1B Lancer strategic bomber, its wings locked back for high-speed flight, made an emergency landing at about 250 mph, and its crew of five escaped injury
On Mar. 10, 1986, a US Air Force B-1B Lancer strategic bomber, with its wings locked in the swept-back position for high-speed flight, carried out an emergency landing at roughly 250 mph, and all five crew members escaped unharmed.
″It’s down OK,″ USAF public information officer Don Haley said moments after the landing on the nearly three-mile runway at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB). ″The wings were jammed back for high-speed flight.″
The Associated Press reported that the B-1B was on a routine flight from Dyess AFB near Abilene, Texas, with five crew members on board. No one was injured, and the aircraft sustained no damage.
Haley said the bomber touched down at Edwards, ″Because our runway is 15,000 feet long, and if you have a problem stopping, we have a runway that extends onto Rogers Dry Lake.″
The bomber’s wings became stuck at a 55-degree sweep angle while it was conducting training in the Midwest.
″The wings should be at about 90 degrees from the fuselage when it lands,″ Haley said.
He said that during a normal landing, the B-1B has a wingspan of 137 feet and lands at about 190 mph. With the wings swept to 55 degrees, the wingspan is reduced to roughly 85 feet.
″That wing angle is for high-speed flight. It is not a good landing attitude,″ Haley said, estimating the bomber’s landing speed ″was 60 miles faster than the normal 190 mph.″
Rex Lowe, a former USAF staff sergeant who went on to spend five years with Rockwell North American Aircraft Operations (NAAO) on the B-1B Program in Palmdale, CA, after retiring, recalls on Quora:
‘In March 1986, while I was working at the plant, it was built in Palmdale, CA, a B-1B landed nearby on Edwards AFB’s 10,000+ foot Edwards Dry Lake dirt runway with wings locked back. Those employed at the plant were informed of the Dyess AFB, TX-based bomber and its predicament in real time. The aircraft touched down at 250 mph and held together well with no blown tires. The 5-member aircrew did experience a tightly puckered ride. Thousands of cheers went up on the production floor upon hearing of a successful landing. Note: the fifth member had no ability to egress by ejection seat, seated on a folding jump seat between two ejection seats and in close proximity to the two other ejection seats.’
Notably, this was not the only time in which a Lancer was forced to perform an emergency landing with its wings locked back. As shown in this article’s main image, in June 1994, a B-1B (s/n 84-0057) from the 7th Bomb Wing, 9th Bomb Squadron, diverted to Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany, after experiencing a wing sweep malfunction. The crew executed a high-speed landing at Rhein-Main, bringing the aircraft to a stop just 100 feet from the end of the runway. The overheated brakes then caused a fire in the right main landing gear, which was quickly extinguished.
The B-1B’s blended wing-body design, swing-wing configuration, and afterburning turbofan engines work together to deliver long range, agility, and high speed while also improving survivability. The wings are set forward for takeoff, landing, air refueling, and certain high-altitude weapon delivery profiles. Swept-back wing positions—the primary combat setup—are generally used for high subsonic and supersonic flight, boosting the B-1B’s maneuverability at both low and high altitudes. Its speed and excellent handling allow it to integrate smoothly into mixed-force strike packages. Combined with its large payload capacity, advanced radar targeting system, long loiter time, and survivability features, these characteristics make the B-1B a critical asset in any joint or composite strike force.
Photo by U.S. Air Force
