Air Force B-52 carries armed Nucs by mistake ...

There have been a few cockups involving nuclear weapons. Florence, SC, Palomares, etc., in most cases the initiating exlosive detonated, spreading highly radioactive material over a considerable area. The cost of cleaning up these errors was huge, not to mention the danger to persons on the ground.

Artillery projectiles are not supposed to be able to detonate until they have travelled a safe distance, but it happens with some regularity. One day a "mistreated" thermonuclear device may do the same.
BrisbaneBarrelDamage3.jpg


That is why this is a major f*ckup, and the persons responsible for nuclear safety have implemented the current regulations for the carriage of nukes.

If the Air Force is just leaving Nukes lay around to be mistakenly loaded on an Aircraft, and the entire Ground and Air Crew not knowing what a Special Weapon looks like, with just about every Terrorist on Earth looking to get their hands on one then we have a very serious problem..... the adverse ramifications go beyond our own Borders as NATO will want to know what we are doing to secure our Special Weapons, as will our other Allies around the Globe.

I'd like to know why the first Report said 5 Weapons and the next said 6 Weapons.... I hope the Aircraft did not take off with 6 and land with 5.
 
Thats like saying that because hundreds of nuclear power plants around the world havent melted down, that none will. Accidents happen, and circumstances could be diffrent now than then. It was a grievous mistake. Simple as that.

True! But this wasn't any danger to public. It was a simple mistake and those responsible for it were fined. Case closed! But to try to turn this incident/mistake into a armed forces bashing is dishonest and not right.
 
Last edited:
We talked about this incident this morning in NROTC. Our Colonel, a USMC pilot, said heads will definitely roll all they way up the chain of command for this FUBAR!

And yes, these bombs did pose a threat to the public. Even though they were not armed (which means they could not have initiated a nuclear explosion) if the plane crashed or dropped the bombs, the conventional explosives inside used to trigger the nuclear chain reaction could explode. Even worse, the casing could split and release radioactive debris!

If ordinance handlers didn't notice a nuclear bomb being loaded on the plane, how hard would it be to "accidentally" load one on a truck and drive off with it? The possibilities are scary...
 
True! But this wasn't any danger to public. It was a simple mistake and those responsible for it were fined. Case closed! But to try to turn this incident/mistake into a armed forces bashing is dishonest and not right.


There is no such thing as a "simple mistake" when Special Weapons are involved.
 
Phoenix, this is huge. Don't try to hide that. There could be more going on here than we think.
I mean... you're telling me that somehow someone unlocked the storage room in which this was located in, had a crew pull it out, and then load this thing not only once but five (or six??) times, the ground crew not involved in the loading walked all around it and didn't know and the pilots boarding the aircraft didn't notice?
Hell, I mean, even opening a storage room for paint needs to be pretty deliberate.
 
True! But this wasn't any danger to public. It was a simple mistake and those responsible for it were fined. Case closed! But to try to turn this incident/mistake into a armed forces bashing is dishonest and not right.

The flippancy of this statement just beggars belief. These were thermonuclear devices that we are talking about not fortune cookies.
 
I remember not very long ago a Navy Base Commander was relieved because of a mishap with a Nuke coming off a Sub.... and the removal was approved beforehand.
No one ever lost track of the Nuke, it was not unaccounted for while going many miles across the Nation, there was at all times Armed Marines around the Weapon.
Although the Navy Weapon was much more dangerous than the Missiles on the B52 as far as destructive capabilities.

If I remember correctly from the News Report someone punched a hole in the Nose Cone of the Weapon with the Crane removing it.... there was no danger to the General Public at large as the system was not set to go hot, and the Warheads were not adversely affected at all, add to that the Commander of the Base was not operating the Crane at the time..... yet, if I remember correctly he still lost his job, as well as others.
That was a major event.... so that would put this new incident in the potentially catastrophic category.
 
True! But this wasn't any danger to public. It was a simple mistake and those responsible for it were fined. Case closed! But to try to turn this incident/mistake into a armed forces bashing is dishonest and not right.

i think it's pretty safe to say at this point that you have very little understanding of what is being discussed here.

read, take in, and maybe you'll come away with a better understanding

wether it was a nuke, or a 5.56mm rifle round....weapons handling is EXTREMELY important, you should NEVER be able to mix up war shot with practise rounds...

the fact it was a nuke only increases the amount of pain those responsible have brought down on themselves
 
Last edited:
Misplacing and thus losing positive control of 6 Nuclear Weapons is not a simple mistake.
Not in the eyes of the United States Military, not in the eyes of the United States Government, not in the eyes of our NATO Allies, not in the eyes of our Allies around the World..... and perhaps even not in the eyes of those we are not formally allied with around the World..... I'd go so far as to say it is maybe not even looked at as a smiple mistake in the eyes of our enemies around the World.

And that is simply NOTHING compared to what's happened here.


What has happened this time makes the other event seem like Childs Play.
With the many layers of security involved with Special Weapons I would think that many people will lose their jobs, perhaps hundreds.
 
Last edited:
Whatever... this was a simple mistake and your efforts to bash the military for this mistake is dishonest!

Dude, this is not a SIMPLE mistake. This is friggin' huge. A series of people really messed up here and people will face the axe (rightfully so). Or perhaps find themselves reassigned to the infantry. hehehe.
It's not so much the consequences of what happened. No one got hurt. But the sheer number of things that had to go wrong for this to be able to happen in itself is troubling.
If nuclear weapons are being handled this carelessly, we do have a situation where terrorists could get their hands on them from not just a foreign source, but an American one.
 
True! But this wasn't any danger to public. It was a simple mistake and those responsible for it were fined. Case closed! But to try to turn this incident/mistake into a armed forces bashing is dishonest and not right.

Nobody's trying to turn this into a bash session of the Armed Forces.

And as far as a lack of danger to the public goes, armed or 'safe' nuclear weapons being transported on the wing pylons or the bomb bay of a B-52, or any other weapons platform for that matter, poses a very serious danger to the public. As chronoserpent pointed out, even a 'safe' nuke can detonate under the right circumstances. Not to mention the public outcry if a nuclear weapon was dropped on American soil. No offence to the citizens of the United States, but I'm sure that somebody would think that they're being bombed, and it would soon get to the media, some of which would would blow the entire incident out of proportion.

Hopefully, the investigation discovers the source behind this incident.
 
Dude, this is not a SIMPLE mistake. This is friggin' huge. A series of people really messed up here and people will face the axe (rightfully so). Or perhaps find themselves reassigned to the infantry. hehehe.
It's not so much the consequences of what happened. No one got hurt. But the sheer number of things that had to go wrong for this to be able to happen in itself is troubling.
If nuclear weapons are being handled this carelessly, we do have a situation where terrorists could get their hands on them from not just a foreign source, but an American one.

Be nice to know for sure if the United States is currently conducting an emergency Special Weapons Inspection and Count worldwide.... but such would most likely just make our Allies a bit more apprehensive.
 
Dude, this is not a SIMPLE mistake. This is friggin' huge. A series of people really messed up here and people will face the axe (rightfully so). Or perhaps find themselves reassigned to the infantry. hehehe.
It's not so much the consequences of what happened. No one got hurt. But the sheer number of things that had to go wrong for this to be able to happen in itself is troubling.
If nuclear weapons are being handled this carelessly, we do have a situation where terrorists could get their hands on them from not just a foreign source, but an American one.

Okay frigging huge... :lol:
 
Huh? what does it have to do with this and me?

It's my view that it was a simple mistake. You can have your own view too but what you did is a cheap shot
 
Huh? what does it have to do with this and me?

It's my view that it was a simple mistake. You can have your own view too but what you did is a cheap shot

-P-
I don't believe that anyone has said that you don't have a right to your own view.

It MAY very well end up being one monstrously 'simple' mistake (or a series of small mistakes) ... however ... when dealing with nuclear weapons, there is no such thing as a simple mistake. A whole chain of mistakes would have had to have transpired for nuclear warshots to have been withdrawn from their secure bunkers, transported to the loading siite, removed from their clearly marked shipping containers, placed upon the loading lift, eased into position, clamped into place and been safetied.

All of this would have had to have been accomplished without a single person involved with the loading realising that the weapons were "REAL" nuclear weapons.

Practice weapons (BDUs), are painted a glaring blue color, real warshots are NOT painted blue - this makes it impossible to mistake the real warshot as a practice round. Along with the visual differences between a practice round and real warshot, the markings on the shipping/storage containers identify exactly what kind round it contains.

Also, SOP is for ALL weapons loading crew members to review the instructions/SOP dealing with nuclear weapons prior to a loading excercise ... this would make it impossible for any member not to realise that loading a warshot nuclear device in any warplane bombay or hard point pylon on a plane that was going to be flying in American airspace was in violation of SOP/instructions. Without the proper signed clearances, initialed checklists, etc ... the weapons wouldn't have even been removed from the bunkers, let alone being loaded onto the aircraft.

So you see, your simple mistake is really a major FUBAR with earth shaking consequences for all involved.

As I have said before, someone really screwed the pooch on this one and there IS going to be a price that will have to be paid.

YOU DON'T MAKE MISTAKES WHERE NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARE CONCERNED.
 
Phoenix, really, try to see some reality. That's what I meant by posting that picture up there. Remember how silly he looked with US Forces banging away at Baghdad? You're doing the same thing to yourself. When there is all the evidence in the world to go against your claim and very little to back yours up, it's time to think maybe you're wrong.
 
Chief

I do accept that it was a mistake and those responsible for it were punished properly but what I don't understand is these mistakes happen around the world and it is nothing new. US military is a fine fighting force and these mistakes can happen and those neglected to take care of it should be disciplined but i dislike the fact that becuz of these mistakes, some resort to american military bashing.
 
Back
Top