A crew of military service members and government contractors were among the eight people killed when a B-52 Stratofortress crashed shortly after takeoff Monday in Southern California. The plane took off at 11:20 a.m. on a routine test mission from Edwards Air Force Base, about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Victims Identified

The Air Force released the names of all eight victims: Col. Gregory Watson, 53; Lt. Col. Gabriel Estrella, 40; retired Lt. Col. Miles Middleton, 50; Maj. Alexander Davis, 34; Maj. Robert Dee, 40; Maj. Brad Hovey, 35; Christopher Rischar, 41; and Jeromy Smith, 32. Middleton worked for Boeing, and Watson, an Air Force reservist, was at his civilian job with Boeing at the time of the crash.

Smith, a civilian flight test engineer for the Department of Defense, had worked at Edwards for 10 years and was the father of two young sons. His wife, Lauren Smith, described him as a hero and an amazing person who died doing what he loved. The couple had marked their fourth wedding anniversary days before the crash.

Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.