The crash of a U.S. Air Force B-52 off the northwest coast of Guam has ended an incredible long-run of no-losses in the aging fleet.

Reports from Guam say the accident occurred around 9:45 a.m. local time, just before the B-52 was to participate in a Liberation Day parade. The aircraft, based at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, was operating from Andersen AFB. No information is yet available on the fate of the six crew members on board.

The crash is the first B-52 loss since 1994, when four crew members died at Fairchild AFB while practicing for an air show. The crash was blamed on pilot error.

Since then, the B-52 has had only suffered two Class A incidents, one in 1995 and another in 2005, but no loss of aircraft or crew. In fact, in the past ten years the have had a Class A rate of a mere 0.41 per 100,000 flight hours.

(credit: U.S. Air Force Photo by Senior Master Sgt. Don Perrien)

Not counting the latest incident, during the life of the program, 79 B-52s have been destroyed, with the loss of life of 315 personnel. The Class A accident number is slightly higher, 98, with an accident rate of 1.27.

Including the latest B-52 crash., so far this fiscal year the Air Force has suffered 22 Class As, with 14 aircraft destroyed. If all six B-52 crew members are confirmed dead, it will double the number of fatalities for the fiscal year the service has suffered. Guam was also the site of the accident in February which destroyed one of the service's 21 B-2 bombers.