A husband and father of two young boys has been identified as another one of the people killed in catastrophic crash of a B-52 Stratofortress at Edwards Air Force Base Monday.
The wife of civilian flight test engineer Jeromy Smith said the crash has turned her life upside down.
“Not seeing this coming at all kind of flipped our world upside-down,” Lauren Smith told KBAK/KBFX Tuesday at her Bakersfield home.
Smith said she and her husband had just welcomed their second child into the world four months ago, and just celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary.
“I’m really sad he doesn’t get to watch them grow up, but I hope, hope that I do them proud and grow them to be wonderful human beings just like he was,” she told the outlet.
Lauren said she knew her husband’s plane was the one that crashed, though she never heard anything from anyone at the base all day.
“I got a phone call from a friend…saying there was a plane crash, and I turned on the news and social media and I knew it was my husband’s plane,” the wife said.
“I didn’t get a single phone call or message or anything telling me about the crash. I found out solely online…I went the whole day just hoping and praying that he was okay.”
She said it wasn’t until 6 pm on Monday when his commander and chaplain showed up at her door she found out he was gone.
A GoFundMe with a $50K goal was started by Lauren’s sister.
“My sister’s husband tragically died in the B-52 plane crash on Edward’s Air Force Base earlier today. He leaves behind not only her, but their 2 boys, one 2.5 years old and the other just 4 months old,” the page said.
“She is left to navigate being a newly single mom, while also having to grieve the love of her life. Our entire family is devastated by this great loss. My brother in-law was an incredible husband and an amazing father to their boys,” it continued.
Lauren said her husband, who grew up in Oregon before going to school in Arizona, loved planes and “died doing what he loves.”
She said she hopes their boys will someday look back and say “that their dad was a hero.”
Smith-who has worked for the base for 10 years-was among eight people killed after the bomber crashed shortly after takeoff from Edwards at about 11:20 a.m. Monday. The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American nuclear-capable subsonic jet-powered strategic bomber.
Miles Middleton, a Boeing employee, was also identified as another person killed in the crash.
“Pam Middleton and her two children are facing an unimaginable loss after Pam’s husband, Miles, was tragically killed in the crash of the B-52 at Edwards Air Force Base,” a family friend said.
A massive plume of black smoke billowed over the remote desert installation in eastern California after the aircraft slammed into the ground and erupted into flames.
According to the flight tracking website, AirNav Systems, the B-52 was in the air for 3 minutes and 15 seconds, before it crashed, NBC San Diego reported.
Military officials later confirmed the crash was “not survivable.”
“An Air Force B-52 Stratofortress carrying eight people on a routine test mission crashed today shortly after take-off at 11:20 a.m. Initial indications are that the crash was not survivable,” the base said in a statement.
Col. James Hayes told reporters the aircraft went down “immediately” after takeoff and that the victims included military personnel, civilian government employees and contractors.
The small community at the base has been rocked by the tragedy. In response, they have set up an emergency center, “a centralized, safe environment,” offering comprehensive services to all of those with base access, a post on a Facebook read.
