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Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
November 7, 2007 By Kate Wiltrout, The Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK--A training bomb fell accidentally from a Navy plane in California on the same day one dropped near a busy road in Virginia Beach, Navy officials confirmed Tuesday.
Both incidents involved F/A-18 Hornets and an inert, 10-pound bomb called BDU-48.
The bomb, which releases only smoke on impact, fell into a commercial area along London Bridge Road. No one was injured, and there was little damage. The plane was returning to Oceana Naval Air Station from a North Carolina bombing range.
That same day - Oct. 30 - a BDU-48 fell off a Hornet based at Lemoore Naval Air Station in California. The Navy acknowledged the incident Tuesday.
Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown, a spokesman for the Commander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, said the device "failed to separate from the aircraft" during practice at El Centro Naval Air Facility.
"The air crew followed the appropriate procedures and the BDU-48 is suspected of separating from the aircraft over an open field," Brown said.
There were no reports of damage, and a search of the area found no evidence of impact.
A tiny fraction of the training bombs fighter pilots use for practice fail to drop when they're released - in the past three years, according to Navy officials, just 15 out of 30,000 devices got stuck during bombing practice, something called "hung ordnance."
Still, the Navy suspended use of BDU-48s on both coasts Friday, but not the use of h eavier practice ordnance.
Brown said Navy officials lifted the restrictions on BDU-48s for California-based jets Monday. West Coast Hornets loaded with practice bombs don't fly over buildings or developed areas, Brown said, and commanders determined adequate safety procedures are in place.
The ban remains in effect in Virginia, something that reassures Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf.
Oberndorf said she's comforted that the Navy isn't using the BDU-48 here, and she thought the Navy would "go out of its way" to protect the people living under its flight paths.
She declined further comment, saying the city has to wait for the Navy to finish its investigation.
Two Navy officials with knowledge of the Virginia Beach inquiry said Tuesday that the bomb release appears to be a case of "hung ordnance."
Staff writer Richard Quinn contributed to this report.
November 7, 2007 By Kate Wiltrout, The Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK--A training bomb fell accidentally from a Navy plane in California on the same day one dropped near a busy road in Virginia Beach, Navy officials confirmed Tuesday.
Both incidents involved F/A-18 Hornets and an inert, 10-pound bomb called BDU-48.
The bomb, which releases only smoke on impact, fell into a commercial area along London Bridge Road. No one was injured, and there was little damage. The plane was returning to Oceana Naval Air Station from a North Carolina bombing range.
That same day - Oct. 30 - a BDU-48 fell off a Hornet based at Lemoore Naval Air Station in California. The Navy acknowledged the incident Tuesday.
Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown, a spokesman for the Commander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, said the device "failed to separate from the aircraft" during practice at El Centro Naval Air Facility.
"The air crew followed the appropriate procedures and the BDU-48 is suspected of separating from the aircraft over an open field," Brown said.
There were no reports of damage, and a search of the area found no evidence of impact.
A tiny fraction of the training bombs fighter pilots use for practice fail to drop when they're released - in the past three years, according to Navy officials, just 15 out of 30,000 devices got stuck during bombing practice, something called "hung ordnance."
Still, the Navy suspended use of BDU-48s on both coasts Friday, but not the use of h eavier practice ordnance.
Brown said Navy officials lifted the restrictions on BDU-48s for California-based jets Monday. West Coast Hornets loaded with practice bombs don't fly over buildings or developed areas, Brown said, and commanders determined adequate safety procedures are in place.
The ban remains in effect in Virginia, something that reassures Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf.
Oberndorf said she's comforted that the Navy isn't using the BDU-48 here, and she thought the Navy would "go out of its way" to protect the people living under its flight paths.
She declined further comment, saying the city has to wait for the Navy to finish its investigation.
Two Navy officials with knowledge of the Virginia Beach inquiry said Tuesday that the bomb release appears to be a case of "hung ordnance."
Staff writer Richard Quinn contributed to this report.