[cynwoody]

According to a former Navy Sailor I used to work with, the reason the missile fired was because the person who mounted the missile on the aircraft didn't check to make sure the fire switch was in the off position first.

There were two safeguards designed to prevent accidental missile firings: a pin, which, when inserted, physically broke the firing circuit, and there was the pigtail, which connected the firing circuit to the missile pod. Until the plane was on the catapult ready to take off, the pin was supposed to be inserted, and the pigtail left disconnected. Once the plane was on the catapult, an accidentally launched missile would have zoomed down the deck and crashed into the sea harmlessly.

Two things happened, disabling both safeguards:

• The pigtail was inserted early, in order to speed operations along. This change in procedure was a result of meetings on the voyage to Viet Nam.
• High winds on the day of the disaster caught the safety pin's ribbon and pulled it out. This was known to happen. Crew members had found pulled pins on the deck.

The pilot of the plane which launched the missile testified that the firing occurred at the moment he switched his plane from external to internal power.

[doorgunner69]

There were two safeguards designed to prevent accidental missile firings: a pin, which, when inserted, physically broke the firing circuit, and there was the pigtail, which connected the firing circuit to the missile pod. Until the plane was on the catapult ready to take off, the pin was supposed to be inserted, and the pigtail left disconnected. Once the plane was on the catapult, an accidentally launched missile would have zoomed down the deck and crashed into the sea harmlessly.

This is correct, other than I find the wind pulling the pin out hard to believe. You had to depress a plunger to pull the pin.

On land this is how we armed rocket pods. Sat at the end of the runway more than a few times plugging in connectors and pulling pins. The drill was to exit under the plane and show the pilot a handful of pins. Same pin pulling for bomb racks.