Wife of B-52 crash victim speaks out: ‘Something was wrong with the plane’

The wife of one of the crew members aboard the B-52 bomber that crashed at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California Monday, killing all eight people on board, spoke with KTLA 5 News Tuesday. Lauren Smith, the wife of Jeromy Smith, a flight test engineer for the U.S. Air Force who died in the crash, told KTLA that the plane was experiencing issues before Monday’s flight. “My husband told me on Friday that they were supposed to fly on Friday and that something was wrong with the plane,” Smith said. “I don’t know what was wrong, but the flight kept getting pushed back. He was supposed to fly in the morning and then it got pushed back to noon and then it got pushed back to 2 o’clock. And then they said they’re going to have to fix whatever was wrong with it and that they would fly when it was done.” The B-52 bomber crashed shortly after takeoff at 11:20 a.m. Officials said that the crew was a mix of military personnel, government civilians and government contractors who were taking part in a local test mission related to a radar modernization program. Officials told Smith it could take months to determine the cause of the crash. An investigation into the crash is ongoing. Family members of those aboard the B-52 have started GoFundMe pages to help them recover from the tragedy. A page set up for Lauren Smith shows that Jeromy Smith left behind two young boys, who she must now raise on her own on a teacher’s salary. “The sudden loss has left Lauren facing unimaginable grief and uncertainty, as she tries to navigate life for herself and her children,” the GoFundMe page reads. “The family had just purchased their home together, and now Lauren is left to manage everything on her own, while caring for her two young boys.” As of Tuesday afternoon, the page has raised roughly $10,000 of its $500,000 goal. KTLA will add more GoFundMe pages for the victims’ families to this story when they are confirmed. Watch the full report from KTLA’s Sara Welch in the video at the top of this story.