U.S. B-52 bomber crashes off Guam, killing 2 crew

MANILA (Reuters) - Two U.S. airmen were killed and four missing after their B-52 bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean shortly after take-off on Monday, while preparing to fly in a Liberation Day parade in the U.S. territory of Guam, officials said.

The bomber, which had no weapons on board, crashed at 9:45 a.m. local time (2345 GMT Sunday), about 15 minutes before the parade was due to begin, the U.S. Air Force said in a statement. There were six crew members.

The bodies of two airmen were later recovered approximately 30 miles northwest of Guam, where a search and rescue operation was still under way involving U.S. Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and other U.S. and Guam agencies.

The Air Force said one of the crew members had been identified but that the airman's identity would be withheld until next-of-kin could be notified.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash. The Air Force said a board of officers was investigating.

An Air Force official was quoted on the Pacific Daily News Web site as saying the plane had been meant to take part in a parade commemorating Guam's 1944 liberation from Japanese occupation in World War Two.

The island, under U.S. control since 1898, is the only significantly populated U.S. territory ever to have been occupied by a foreign power.

In February, a B-2 stealth bomber, which costs around $1.2 billion, crashed at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam. The two pilots on board ejected safely.

(Reporting by Carmel Crimmins in Manila and David Morgan in Washington; Editing by Alex Richardson and Eric Beech)