A B-52 bomber crashed after taking off from a US military base in Southern California

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — A B-52 bomber crashed shortly after takeoff Monday morning at a U.S. Air Force base in Southern California’s Mojave Desert, officials said.

Emergency crews were responding after the plane went down around 11:20 a.m. at Edwards Air Force Base, the Army said on the X social media platform. There was no immediate information on whether anyone was injured.

A video clip from the scene showed a huge column of black smoke rising from the desert.

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, usually crewed by five people, is a long-range bomber that entered service in 1955. Designed to carry conventional and nuclear weapons, it has been used in conflicts ranging from the Vietnam War to recent operations in the Middle East.

The vast Edwards Desert Base, where Chuck Yeager discovered the speed of sound in 1947, is located about 100 miles (161 km) north of Los Angeles.

The accident comes nearly a year after the pilot of a regional jet flying over North Dakota made an unexpected sharp turn to avoid a possible mid-air collision with a military B-52 bomber on its flight path last July.