Students in a classroom at a high school in California on March 1, 2022.
(
Salgu Wissmath
/
CalMatters
)
Topline:
Emotional fights erupted over a controversial attempt this year to counter antisemitism in schools by restricting what teachers teach in classrooms, exposing a political quagmire for California Democrats who needed to balance the needs of Jewish communities against the fury of a growing pro-Palestinian base.
Why now: Stories like Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, as well as Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, prompted California’s Jewish lawmakers to make countering antisemitism in schools their top priority this year. They sought to create a list of words and ideas that could not be mentioned in classrooms, including heavily disputed claims about Israel. The effort sparked the biggest, most emotional legislative fight of the year: Should the government regulate what can be taught in schools? If so, how far should it go?
The backstory: At issue was Assembly Bill 715, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law this month after it went through multiple major, sometimes last-minute rewrites during months of political tussling. Champions have argued the law will protect Jewish students from rising bullying and discrimination, sometimes from teachers. While the state does not collect data on antisemitism in schools, reports of anti-Jewish bias statewide have doubled between 2021 and 2024, according to the California Department of Justice. Last year, more than 15% of all hate crime events in California were anti-Jewish, even though Jewish people make up about 3% of the state population.
Tears welling in her eyes, Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan paused mid-sentence to calm herself on the Assembly floor.
Almost a century ago, the Nazis forced her grandmother to flee Austria, leaving behind her great-great-grandmother who died in the Holocaust, the Jewish Democrat from San Ramon told her fellow lawmakers. Last year, she said, her daughter told her that the bathrooms at her school had been vandalized with swastikas.
“My children deserve to show up at school and not have to face hate crimes in their building, to face the symbols that represented the end of their relatives,” she said.
Stories like hers, as well as Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, prompted California’s Jewish lawmakers to make countering antisemitism in schools their top priority this year. They sought to create a list of words and ideas that could not be mentioned in classrooms, including heavily disputed claims about Israel. The effort sparked the biggest, most emotional legislative fight of the year: Should the government regulate what can be taught in schools? If so, how far should it go?
At issue was Assembly Bill 715, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law this month after it went through multiple major, sometimes last-minute rewrites during months of political tussling.
Champions have argued the law will protect Jewish students from rising bullying and discrimination, sometimes from teachers. While the state does not collect data on antisemitism in schools, reports of anti-Jewish bias statewide have doubled between 2021 and 2024, according to the California Department of Justice. Last year, more than 15% of all hate crime events in California were anti-Jewish, even though Jewish people make up about 3% of the state population.
“We cannot hide from the profoundly unfortunate truth that Jewish kids are being isolated, made to feel unwelcome, and verbally and physically attacked. And far too often, our schools are failing to protect them,” Assemblymember Rick Zbur, a Los Angeles Democrat and co-author of the bill, said during a May hearing, when the bill started as merely a promise to curb antisemitism in schools.
Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur speaks to lawmakers during an Assembly floor session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Oct. 1, 2024.
(
Fred Greaves
/
CalMatters
)
By July, it had undergone a major overhaul, including determining that any instruction that “directly or indirectly deny Israel’s right to exist,” equating Israelis with Nazis, or disrespecting “the historical, cultural, or religious significance of Israel to the Jewish people” would count as creating an “antisemitic learning environment.” It reinvigorated debates over whether criticism of Israel’s founding, or even the belief that Jewish people should have an independent country in their ancient homeland, counts as antisemitic — something Jewish thinkers do not agree on.
Mainstream Jewish groups maintain that anti-Zionism, a broad term that generally opposes the idea of a standalone state with a Jewish-majority population, is antisemitic. Many Jewish academics, however, don’t think it is antisemitic on its own, but they agree that blaming individual Jews for the actions taken by the Israeli government is antisemitic.
That July version of the bill drew heavy opposition from a vast coalition of education groups, from teachers unions to school boards, civil rights advocates and Muslim community organizations, who feared censorship of pro-Palestinian voices and infringement upon academic freedom. They would remain opposed through its many iterations, and many of them urged Newsom to veto it.
Their concerns lingered even as the bill was ultimately watered down in the final days of this year’s legislative session to address bias more broadly: The final version no longer mentions the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and bars using professional development materials that violate the state’s anti-discrimination laws. It also requires “factually accurate” instruction that is free of “advocacy, personal opinion, bias, or partisanship” — a controversial element the bill’s authors said they ran out of time to tackle and promised to “clean up” next year.
“In its current form, this bill only reinforces broader national trends of silencing constitutionally protected speech, erasing historically relevant curriculum, and persecuting anyone who expresses even the slightest opposition to the federal administration,” said Assemblymember Robert Garcia, a freshman Democratic lawmaker from Rancho Cucamonga and former teacher and school board member, who ultimately abstained from voting on the measure.
The squabble over the bill was messy, marked by hundreds of attendees, hourslong hearings, and accusations of bad faith from both sides. Bauer-Kahan called a teachers union advocate who opposed the bill antisemitic. After the bill passed out of the Legislature, a handful of pro-Palestinian activists protested from the Assembly gallery for more than an hour, yelling: “You will all have blood on your hands!”
Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan speaks in support of SCR 135, which would designate May 6, 2024 as California Holocaust Memorial Day on the Assembly floor at the state Capitol in Sacramento on April 29, 2024.
(
Miguel Gutierrez Jr.
/
CalMatters
)
The tension highlights the discomfort for California Democrats, who, despite having traditionally defended Israel, have had to reckon with a base growing increasingly critical of Israel. They faced a tough choice: Support the bill and risk upsetting some of the most powerful labor allies as well as their pro-Palestinian constituents, or oppose the bill and risk being labeled as antisemitic or unwilling to combat antisemitism. Amid the pressure, some Democratic lawmakers voted for the bill even as they warned it could be used to censor free speech. Others abstained instead of taking a side.
“I'm actually surprised that California state legislators would want to even touch it, because it's just so radioactive right now,” said Kim Nalder, a political science professor at Sacramento State University. “It just feels like at this political moment, we want to lower the temperature, not shine a spotlight on ways in which we might target each other.”
The issue was such a hot potato that many lawmakers avoided tackling it early in the legislative process, when policy differences are often ironed out, said Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, a freshman progressive Democrat from Pasadena who chairs the Senate Education Committee. When the bill arrived in her committee in June, it still had no substantive language. Some lawmakers told her to not touch it either, while others left it up to her to “take care of it,” she said.
“The ball got thrown to me,” she told CalMatters. "And people knew that they were doing that."
'People would end up being very angry on both sides'
The Gaza war has forced a tidal shift within the Democratic base, as voters’ support for Israel’s military campaign tanked over the past two years. That has forced some Democrats, even moderates who have historically backed Israel, to condemn the country and pull away from pro-Israel donors. Young Democrats are also more critical of Israel than their older peers, so any vote that could be perceived as silencing pro-Palestinian voices is risky.
“A very strong part of Democratic and leftist values that we are seeing expressed now is anti-genocide or anti-war,” Nalder said. “(For) my students who are politically active, this is one of the chief issues that they care about.”
The bill also came as President Donald Trump ordered immigration agents to arrest student activists critical of the Israeli government and withheld billions of dollars in funding from universities for their alleged failure to protect Jewish students. At least half a dozen other state Legislatures sought to fight antisemitism in schools this year, with some adopting a highly disputed definition of antisemitism in state education codes. Enraged, some opponents accused California Democrats of taking a page out of Trump’s playbook.
But the Democratic lawmakers had to balance all that with the risk of upsetting the Jewish community, a key voting block. A no vote could be construed as antisemitic, making the lawmaker vulnerable to challenges in the next election, Nalder said.
The bill was the sole priority of the 18-member California Legislative Jewish Caucus, which is composed entirely of Democrats and led by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel of Encino and Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco, who chair the budget committees in their respective chambers.
Neither would speak with CalMatters about what happened with the bill. Gabriel’s office did not respond to several CalMatters emails seeking an interview, whereas Wiener declined to comment, pointing CalMatters to the bill authors instead.
David Bocarsly, executive director of the Jewish Public Affairs Committee, which sponsored the bill, said the caucus’ backing was crucial.
“The Jewish caucus was able to leverage their influence and respect with their colleagues and effectively represent the Jewish community’s needs,” he said.
Pérez acknowledged the political challenge, telling CalMatters she would have preferred to hold the bill until next year, but said legislative leaders had promised to deliver a bill the governor could sign this year. She said some colleagues told her it was “an impossible situation” to navigate.
“They felt like there was no winning,” she said. “Regardless of what they would try to do to make amendments to it … people would end up being very angry on both sides.”
A debate over academic freedom
The clash over AB 715 is the latest episode of yearslong strife over how to teach about marginalized communities in California’s K-12 schools and who should be included.
In past years, the fight primarily focused on ethnic studies — a mandatory high school course on the history and culture of groups such as Latinos, Asian Americans, African Americans and Native Americans. The state adopted a model curriculum in 2021, after years of fine-tuning amid disputes over which ethnic minority groups to teach about and criticism from Jewish advocates, who accused past versions of being antisemitic.
Jewish lawmakers championed a bill earlier this year that aimed to tackle antisemitism by restricting the ethnic studies curriculum, but the effort was stopped early in its tracks, and legislators turned to AB 715 instead.
“This is a bill about protecting Jewish students, and it shouldn't have been controversial,” said Bocarsly, of JPAC. “If we don't teach empathy and understand it, we're going to build a generation of intolerance, and that's what we're trying to correct for.”
He said AB 715 was “the hardest political fight in JPAC’s history” and that the initial definition of an antisemitic learning environment was only meant to offer teachers guidance.
But opponents had two major concerns: that the bill’s initial definition of antisemitic learning environment risked silencing discord about Israel, and that even in its final watered-down version it could chill free speech and open teachers up to lawsuits for teaching about anything controversial.
“Jews are most safe when democracy flourishes, when pluralism flourishes, not when rights are taken away,” said David Goldberg, president of the California Teachers Association and a Jewish father to three children who attend public schools.
A classroom at a high school in Imperial County on Dec. 12, 2023.
(
Kristian Carreon
/
CalMatters
)
What’s safe for Jews was itself a matter of disagreement among the bill’s backers and dissenters. Bocarsly said CTA leadership’s opposition to every version of the bill shows that they “have little interest in supporting a bill that would protect Jewish students.”
Goldberg, in an interview, called that accusation “a lot of chutzpah, frankly.”
The fact the bill even tried to prescribe what an antisemitic environment looked like in classrooms was concerning to Kenneth Stern, a scholar on hate. More than 20 years ago, he was the lead author of the highly controversial definition of antisemitism that’s been adopted by some states this year. It all but labels anti-Zionism as a form of antisemitism. Now, nearly 50 countries, including the U.S., have embraced the definition.
Though Stern wrote the definition, he opposes using it to restrict speech in schools, arguing that it could threaten academic freedom and fuel censorship by chilling discussion about controversial topics. Stern said despite all the revisions made during the process, the final version will likely make antisemitism worse.
The law creates an antisemitism prevention coordinator to advise education and legislative leaders and says the person in that role should use federal guidelines published under former President Joe Biden as “a basis” for decision-making. The controversial definition of antisemitism Stern wrote is labeled as the most prominent definition of antisemitism in those guidelines, though it mentions others.
“I understand why people care about (preventing antisemitism in schools),” he said. “They want the Legislature to do something. I think the legislators are sincere that they want to do something. This is the wrong thing.”
Educators like Goldberg worry the bill could allow bad-faith critics to also dispute a wide array of controversial topics taught in schools. Will it become the basis for critics of the transgender community to pressure teachers to say there are only two genders, he wondered.
Gabriel Kahn, a Jewish teacher in Oakland who said he’s being investigated by his school district after challenging the content of an antisemitic training last year, said he fears prosecution for voicing the need to distinguish between antisemitism and criticism of Israel.
“What I’m most afraid of is that in the Democratic state of California, we can pass a censorship bill that protects a foreign nation from criticism implicitly,” he said. “What does that say about the future of academic freedom in our country?”
CalMatters reporter Carolyn Jones contributed reporting.
The Los Angeles Unified School Board is tasked with securing the long-term fiscal health of the nation's second-largest school district.
(
Kayla Bartkowski
/
Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
)
Topline:
The Los Angeles Unified School Board on Tuesday will consider its options for fiscal stability, and preview its budget for the next school year.
Why it matters: LAUSD leaders say that without change, the district could deplete its budget reserves within a few years. The board recently voted to finalize the elimination of more than 650 jobs.
What might be cut: The two most prominent items on the chopping block involve the district’s signature equity programs: the Student Equity Needs Index, which ensures dollars flow to schools with greater perceived needs, and the Black Student Achievement Plan.
Read on... for more on the programs that might be cut, and what to know about the board meeting.
When the Los Angeles Unified School Board voted in May to finalize the elimination of more than 650 jobs as part of a plan to cut spending, its leaders promised more painful decisions would be necessary.
On June 16, another of those painful decisions arrives, as the school board will consider a fiscal stabilization plan to address multiple years of deficit spending.
The most recent forecast predicts a $1.3 billion deficit in the 2027-28 school year and a $3.6 billion deficit in the 2028-29 school year. (California requires schools to plan budgets for three years at a time.)
Perhaps the two most prominent items on the chopping block involve signature equity programs: the Student Equity Needs Index, which ensures dollars flow to schools with greater perceived needs, and the Black Student Achievement Plan.
The proposed cuts to these programs, and others, would likely result in thousands of layoffs in the coming years.
In a board meeting on Friday, community members called attention to what they said was a major transgression on the horizon.
“We’ve heard this district talk repeatedly about standing for equity. This is an opportunity for you all to put your money where your mouth is … ,” said Joseph Williams of the advocacy group Students Deserve, who also sits on the steering committee for BSAP. “A budget is a moral document. Please stand with the most marginalized students in this district.”
School leaders say that without change, the district could deplete its budget reserves within a few years.
“Our fiscal stabilization efforts are designed to protect the district's ability to serve students today and in the years ahead,” said Acting Superintendent Andres Chait during a May board meeting.
What is a fiscal stabilization plan?
California law gives county school superintendents the power to intervene when districts are at risk of not meeting their financial obligations. One of these interventions is the creation of a “roadmap” to address a budget deficit, called a fiscal stabilization plan. The Los Angeles County Office of Education advises districts to show what factors are straining the budget and include strategies to reduce spending, increase revenue and temporarily spend reserves or one-time funding.
The board’s approval of the fiscal stabilization plan does not automatically enact all of the cuts the plan proposes. Actions such as eliminating jobs often require further board votes and the plan can be revised throughout the next year.
It’s also possible that additional state funding, including revenue from investments in AI, could offset some of the proposed cuts.
What is the Student Equity Needs Index?
The annual fund known as SENI is distributed to LAUSD schools based on several factors, including academic outcomes, rates of chronic absenteeism and the health and levels of violence in surrounding communities.
SENI debuted in 2018, offering school principals discretionary funding to target interventions toward students with the greatest needs. Originally $350 million, the board doubled SENI in 2021 while flush with COVID relief money — which is now gone.
“Reducing and eliminating SENI means fewer everything,” Griselda Perez, a mom of two current LAUSD students, told the board on June 12. “Counselors, tutors, less mental health and destruction of the progress that we fought for a decade ago.”
What is the Black Student Achievement Plan?
The Black Student Achievement Plan is a $125 million fund distributed primarily to schools that serve higher numbers of Black students. The LAUSD board voted to create BSAP in 2021 with the goal of closing gaps in academic outcomes between Black students and their peers.
Mariah Williams, a new graduate of San Pedro High School attending UCLA this fall, spoke to the board Friday in her graduation robe. She said she wanted the board to see what investment looks like.
“[Programs like BSAP] provide mentorship, advocacy, college readiness support, mental health support and opportunities that help students succeed,” she said, adding that when schools dismantle such programs, they advance an agenda that undermines efforts to improve outcomes for Black students.
What will the board decide at its June 16 meeting?
The board is slated to vote on a fiscal stabilization plan, and it will also take public comment on a separate budget measure and its Local Control and Accountability Plan. (The LCAP is a state-mandated plan that outlines how the district will support student success.)
Suzanne Levy
is a senior editor on the Explore LA team, where she oversees food, LA Explained and other feature stories.
Published June 15, 2026 8:20 PM
Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard foundation, speaks onstage during the 2026 James Beard Restaurant And Chef Awards in Chicago.
(
Daniel Boczarski
/
Getty Images
)
Topline:
Several Los Angeles heavy-hitters were recognized in the James Beard 2026 awards, the Oscars of the food world, which were handed out Monday night in Chicago. Dave Beran of Seline in Santa Monica won Best chef for California, Providence won Outstanding Hospitality, and Kato won Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program.
Why it matters: Similar to the Oscars, winning can lead to an instant boost in reservations and bragging rights. While three of L.A.'s restaurants were recognized, however, the city lost out in key categories like Outstanding and Emerging chef.
Who else was honored: Nancy Silverton won a Lifetime Achievement award, Inglewood legacy restaurant Silver Spoon was honored with an America's Classics award, and L.A. nonprofit, No Us Without You, was awarded Humanitarian of the Year.
Several Los Angeles heavy-hitters were recognized in the James Beard 2026 awards, the Oscars of the food world, which were handed out Monday night in Chicago.
Best Chef in California
Dave Beran, of Seline in Santa Monica, won Best Chef in California. The chef, who got Jeremy Allen White camera-ready for The Bear, said operating a restaurant in disaster-prone L.A. is hard.
"You name the problem every year.... whether it's fires so on and so forth. So to stay culture and goal-focused and believe in what we're doing even though I'm sure there are paths that probably would have been more profitable ... [the award] means a lot," Beran said.
Chef Dave Beran of Pasjoli and Seline in Santa Monica.
(
John Troxell
)
Beran, who also owns Pasjoli nearby, offers a 16-22 course tasting menu at Seline for $295.
Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
While L.A. was eclipsed in some key categories, like Outstanding Chef, Emerging Chef and Best New Restaurant, it picked up awards in others. Kato, the one-star Michelin restaurant in DTLA, won the Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program. Ryan Bailey, sommelier and co-owner, told the audience in his acceptance speech that their vision was all about inclusion.
It was important that "no matter what was in your glass you were raising to cheer, you felt equal” at the bar.
Outstanding Hospitality
Meanwhile Providence, the three-star Michelin restaurant on Melrose that's celebrating its 21st anniversary this week, won Outstanding Hospitality. Co-owner and General Manager Donato Poto joked that in the restaurant world, its longevity puts it "somewhere between middle age and a miracle."
Kim Stoler, beverage director at Providence restaurant on Melrose, mixes the Electric margarita made table side.
(
Josh Letona
/
LAist
)
With a 1:1 customer to staff ratio, Poto said that exceptional service "is not something that can be scripted or manufactured, but rather is the result of a team united by a shared commitment to care, humility, and excellence."
Other SoCal honors
In a ceremony that was part celebration and part a passionate plea for recognition of the role of immigrants in the food industry, the contributions of other Angelenos were also honored.
Silver Spoon, the legendary soul food restaurant in Inglewood, was recognized with a James Beard America's Classics award, given to "locally owned restaurants with timeless appeal."
Local icon Nancy Silverton was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award. However, she said, “This award doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere … because I have nowhere to go. And mark my words I will be back there to receive my lifetime achievement award 2.0. “
A local nonprofit, No Us Without You, was awarded Humanitarian of the Year. Started by chefs Othón Nolasko and Damián Diaz to provide food relief to hospitality workers during the pandemic, six years later, it's pivoted to also serve food at home to families affected by ICE raids.
If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.
Officials have issued evacuation orders and warnings for residents near the Max Fire, which broke out late Monday afternoon.
(
Courtesy Cal Fire
)
Topline:
A fire near Stevenson Ranch Monday afternoon prompted evacuation orders and warnings before firefighters were able to stop its forward progress hours later at 6:25 p.m. The Max Fire, which was reported at about 4:20 p.m., has so far burned 45 acres, according to the L.A. County Fire Department.
What we know so far: The fire is located just west of the 5 Freeway in Pico Canyon Park, near Stevenson Ranch Parkway, according to Cal Fire.
Read on ... for more on evacuation orders and warnings.
This is a developing story and will be updated. For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
A fire near Stevenson Ranch Monday afternoon prompted evacuation orders and warnings before firefighters were able to stop its forward progress hours later at 6:25 p.m. The Max Fire, which was reported at about 4:20 p.m., has so far burned 45 acres, according to the L.A. County Fire Department.
The fire is located just west of the 5 Freeway in Pico Canyon Park, near Stevenson Ranch Parkway, according to Cal Fire.
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for parts of the communities of Southern Oaks and Sunset Pointe, including the Laing-Brookefield Open Space. Parts of Valencia and Newhall are under evacuation warnings.
The basics
Acreage: 45 acres as of 6:25 p.m. Monday
Containment: 0%
Structures destroyed: None reported
Deaths: None
Injuries: 0
Personnel working on fire: Not immediately available
Authorities say those who require additional time to evacuate and those with pets and livestock should leave immediately.
What we know so far
The Max Fire broke out about 4:20 p.m. west of Stevenson Ranch. It's currently 0% contained.
It's among several fires in recent days, including the Hazel Fire near Lancaster, which burned 66 acres Monday before the L.A. County Fire Department said crews had stopped forward progress of the fire. Evacuation warnings for nearby residents are still in place for that fire. LAist media partner CBS LA reports aerial footage showed a few structures on fire.
Listen to our Big Burn podcast
Listen
39:42
Get ready now. Listen to our The Big Burn podcast
Jacob Margolis, LAist's science reporter, examines the new normal of big fires in California.
By Christopher Weber and Konstantin Toropin | The Associated Press
Published June 15, 2026 5:11 PM
A United States Air Force B-52 Stratofortress crashed shortly after takeoff.
(
Courtesy CBS LA
)
Topline:
A B-52 bomber crashed today and burst into flames, killing all eight people aboard, shortly after takeoff at a U.S. Air Force base in Southern California’s Mojave Desert, military officials said.
What we know: Aerial footage showed virtually nothing left of the aircraft that went down around 11:20 a.m. during a routine test mission at the base, which is north of Los Angeles. After reviewing footage of the crash, it was determined that no one could have survived, Col. James Hayes, the Deputy Commander at Edwards Air Force Base, said at a news conference.
About the victims: “We lost eight great Americans,” Hayes said, adding that officials were working to notify their families. On board was a mix of military service members and government and civilian contractors, Hayes said.
A B-52 bomber crashed Monday and burst into flames, killing all eight people aboard, shortly after takeoff at a U.S. Air Force base in Southern California’s Mojave Desert, military officials said.
Aerial footage showed virtually nothing left of the aircraft that went down around 11:20 a.m. during a routine test mission at the base, which is north of Los Angeles. Black smoke rose from a large swath of charred desert near what appeared to be a runway on the base, with emergency vehicles nearby.
After reviewing footage of the crash, it was determined that no one could have survived, Col. James Hayes, the Deputy Commander at Edwards Air Force Base, said at a news conference.
“We lost eight great Americans,” Hayes said, adding that officials were working to notify their families.
On board was a mix of military service members and government and civilian contractors, Hayes said.
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, and it could take up to six months to complete an investigation, Hayes said, but shared that the B-52 was supporting the “radar modernization program.”
In 2025, a B-52 flew to Edwards with a new, modernized radar system. A test team planned to conduct ground and flight test activities on the aircraft throughout 2026 to feed a production decision, the air force said in a 2025 news release. The modern Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar system replaced the aircraft’s antiquated radar for efficacy.
Edwards Air Force Base is home to a large portion of the U.S. Air Force’s aircraft test and development efforts and is about 100 miles (161 km) north of Los Angeles. The 412th Test Wing, which runs the base, also conducts developmental testing of all Air Force aircraft, weapons systems, software and components before purchase by the service as well as throughout their lifespan.
The vast desert base is also where Air Force test pilot Chuck Yeager reached a speed of Mach 1.05 and broke the sound barrier in 1947.
The airfield was closed most of Monday and all inbound aircraft were being diverted, but it reopened by late afternoon. Non-commercial visitor passes for the base were suspended as emergency crews doused the flames.
It’s too soon to say what might have happened.
The way the B-52 crashed so quickly after takeoff without getting very high or going far makes aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti suspect some kind of flight control malfunction.
It’s possible the controls were rigged wrong after maintenance, he said, or a catastrophic engine problem or a failure of a piece of equipment that was being tested.
“I think it was definitely a controllability issue. Now, whether that was tied to an engine failure, a flight control failure, or some new testing device failure, I’m not sure,” said Guzzetti, who used to investigate crashes for both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Although the Air Force has been flying B-52 bombers for more than 70 years, testing out new equipment on a plane can create new challenges.
“A flight test is always riskier than normal operations, so that’s why you have specially trained test pilots, and you should have other safety protocols,” Guzzetti said.
___
Toropin reported from Washington D.C. AP Transportation Writer Josh Funk contributed to this story from Omaha, Nebraska and AP reporter Hallie Golden contributed from Seattle.
