Posted on 02/16/2005 6:34:31 AM PST by Indy Pendance
DUBAI (Reuters) - A fuel tank falling from an Iranian plane could have caused an explosion in Iran's Bushehr province, where the country is building a nuclear power plant, Iran state television said on Wednesday.
"A local source said the explosion could have been the result of the falling of an empty fuel tank from an Iranian plane," Al-Alam said.
The Arabic-language channel also quoted other witnesses as saying that an unknown aircraft fired a missile on Wednesday in a deserted area near the southern city of Dailam, which is in Bushehr province.
Wouldn't it be funny if this did happen, and the stray missle happened to hit the nuke plant? DOH!
baghdad spoke speaks
Well dam.
UFOs, fuel tanks falling out of the sky, cats cohabitating with dogs ... where will it end? Hopefully with the Bushewr nuke going POOF! GO ISRAEL GO!
More or less...The correct terminology, though, is "Fuel-Air Explosive", which is a nasty little bugger. But an FAE would be the wrong ordinance to drop on a nuc plant. These things are mostly used for targets out in the open (but spread out) or in confined spaces (i.e. a cave, tunnel or something similar).
When I was an AO2 on the Ike, we very often had pilots returning from combat missions without their external tanks. They would accidentally jettison them or drop them in order to manuever somehwat better. It happens in the heat of combat or when someone is not focused on what they're doing. Sometimes, the tanks just weren't installed properly and they could be dropped or torn off by the slipstream.
Nope, sounds to me like someone made a mistake and there's a cover up/propaganda advantage to be gained.
Are fuel tanks separable from the aircraft or is it integral to the structure of the aircraft. Fuel is carried in the wings as a tank is it not?
You'd lie, too, if the penalty for an industrial accident or pilot error was DEATH.
External fuel tanks can be attached to wing hardpoints or to a centerline attachment point. These tanks are not an integral part of the aircraft, but modular units.
Occasionally, they may not be installed correctly (it's not an easy operation sometimes) and a pilot might be forced to eject them for reasons of safety, or they sometimes shake loose when not installed properly.
The same thing occasionally happens to explosive ordinance, as well. I've seen it so many times I've lost count.
True enough. Ijust wonder if you still get 72 virgins for being an idiot or does the reward drop to three fat, but extremely horny, goats?
TWA 800...? (Not weighing in one way or the other here...)
So witnesses saw an exploding dam dropping a fuel tank from an aircraft?
Wow.
I want some of whatever they've been smoking... Wow is right.
Well I think the most salient information to glean from this whole episode is that Iran wants nothing to do with going to war with the U.S. This was built-in propaganda if they wanted to run with it...
Reminds me of the lame reasons given for that huge explosion in N Korea a few months ago.
Most fighters can be equipped with wing-tip tanks which are dumped if combat is imminent.
What is that black bent tube between the upper set of fins? Looks like a rear-facing camera, but if so, why rear-facing?
On long flights, missiles may need refueling.
That is it's refueling umbilical.
I'd like to see how that works.
A fuel tank falls from the sky and explodes on a nuclear reactor? I hate it when that happens.
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