Washington - The US military continued rescue efforts for the crew of a B-52 bomber that crashed off the coast of Guam, but it was increasingly unlikely survivors will be found, the US Air Force said Tuesday. The B-52 crashed about 40 kilometres off Guam's northwest coast on Monday while it was preparing to participate in a ceremony recognizing the island's liberation. The cause of the crash has not been determined.
The bodies of two of the six crew were found on Monday and the other four remained missing.
"We recognize, however, that the longer this search continues the less likelihood there is that well find survivors," Brigadier General Douglas Owens said. "Although we continue to hold out hope, we have had no encouraging indicators that our airmen survived this crash."
The B-52, based out of Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, was not carrying weapons. B-52s have been in service since 1955.
The accident is the second for the US Air Force this year on Guam. In February, a B-2 crashed at Andersen Air Force Base in the first-ever loss of a stealth bomber. The military estimated the loss of the aircraft at 1.4 billion dollars.
