Update AND a different incident.
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Posted on 11/07/2007 8:12:00 AM PST by RDTF
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.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at content.hamptonroads.com ...
ping
Update AND a different incident.
Click on pic for past Navair pings.
Post or FReepmail me if you wish to be enlisted in or discharged from the Navair Pinglist.
This is a medium to low volume pinglist.
Maybe they should move Oceana to Tehran
Quick enough? ;)
Well, if the swabbies can’t keep their bombs on their plane then maybe they should have the zoomies carry them. At least they can keep a bunch of nukes onboard for the flight across the country. LOL
The Lemoore aircraft fly right over my property on their way back to Lemoore after their training runs. I can hear them, but they’re hard to spot. I love the sound of freedom!
Sometimes I look up and wonder what it would be like if one of them had my number. :)
That was a quick draw!
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