B-1B that made dramatic emergency landing at Midland airport has been retired

The B-1B that had an in-flight fire in one of its engines and a subsequent ejection seat failure has now been retired to Tinker Air Force Base.

B-1B Lancer, 86-0109 arrives at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, Oct. 26, 2018 where it will undergo depot-level maintenance and upgrades with the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex. During a routine training flight May 1, the Dyess AFB based B-1B had an in-flight emergency resulting in an attempted ejection. The first crewmembers’ seat failed to deploy and the aircraft commander halted the ejection sequence and heroically saved the aircraft and crew by landing at Midland International Air & Space Port. (U.S. Air Force photo/Greg L. Davis)

Aircraft 86-109, “Spectre,” was retired and towed to an Aircraft Battle Damage Repair training pad at the 76th Maintenance Group’s Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight on the south side of the base on Apr. 10. It joins a B-52 and a C-135 there as maintenance trainers.

A B-1B Lancer aircraft, “Spectre,” is towed into the 76th Aircraft Maintenance Group’s Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight training facility April 10, 2021 at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. Obstacles such as road signs, poles and power lines were temporarily removed to give the aircraft an unobstructed path to its new home. (U.S. Air Force photo by Paul Shirk)

Spectre had made an emergency landing May 1, 2018, in Midland after the number 4 engine had a fire in mid-air. The crew had exhausted all options to put out the fire and choose to eject. However, the first person to pull the ejection handle failed to egress from the aircraft due to a failure in the ejection seat. The crew commander then made a decision to land the aircraft instead, with a fire on board and a missing hatch.

It was later flown by the 10th Flight Test Squadron with just three functioning engines to Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, on Oct. 26, 2018 for depot maintenance. The damaged engine nacelle was replace and the ejection seat was repaired, the Integrated Battle Station modification and a full Programed Depot Maintenance overhaul was also carried out. Despite all the work done, the service decided to retire the aircraft.

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