If they are two BDU-50s practice bombs that simulate 500 lb Mk-82s then they are harmless unless they have spotting charges.
This one below has no spotting charge in its nose.
Posted on 10/22/2009 5:42:13 PM PDT by Mr. Jazzy
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah (AP) -- An official with the Davis County sheriff's office in northern Utah says there has been an explosion at Hill Air Force Base.
Capt. Kenny Payne says the explosion occurred Thursday at a weapons cache. He did not have other details.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Prayers up.
Prayers for all those involved.
They work with some very dangerous “items”.
Weapons cache?
I wonder if it was an ammunition igloo?
HILL AIR FORCE BASE -- An explosion at Hill Air Force Base knocked out power and forced the evacuation of employees Thursday evening.
Base officials say an F-16 was having an "in-flight emergency" and jettisoned two fuel tanks and two 500 pound munitions. One or both of the munitions is believed to have hit a base structure, causing a large explosion.
The pilot was able to landed the F-16 safely back at the base, and the two fuel tanks were located.
Now crews are investigating to determine if both munitions hit the building, while continuing to search for one of the munitions that may not have exploded.
Base officials believe that if is an unexploded munitions, it will be found inside base property. They say there is no risk of danger to the public.
The explosion caused closures in both directions on Interstate 15, but the freeway has now been reopened.
Base officials still have the base's West Gate entrance (650 North in Layton) closed and are diverting traffic to the South Gate.
Stay with KSL.com, KSL-TV and KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM for the latest details on this developing story.
Could have been in transport, waiting for details.
Oh man.
There was an explosion in an ammunition igloo in 1944 at Umatilla Ordnance Depot. Killed several people, and they found pieces of a truck that was parked in front of the igloo over 5100’ feet from the explosion.
They believe ...LMAO... but if the unexploded bombs are found off base, they're completely harmless? Uh huh.
I want to believe!
Yes they do. Actually a good ending for a live fire exercise pilot having an in flight emergency. These heroes fly a lot of training missions over the west desert from Hill.
Prayers up
Huh, I didn’t know that was procedure to jettison live ordnance during IFE if over occupied structures.
In {censored} we had a Navy F-18 take the arresting cable cuz of an IFE. The pilot said his only options were to use our arresting cable (the only operational one within his remaining fuel range) or punch out at sea near his carrier. This was within the last 3 years.
A witness, Trevor Warner, while traveling on I-15 North said he felt the impact of the explosion while driving on the freeway. Warner said he saw a big "mushroom cloud" of black smoke rise. No injuries have been reported nor damage to any buildings or facilities.
Rocky Mountain Power reports of power outages in the area, but no civilian areas around the base were affected.
source Fox13 Salt Lake
OMG - prayers that nobody on the ground is hurt.
500 lb = MK 82 + what kits were installed.
In a related note:
The Mk 82 is currently undergoing a minor redesign to allow it to meet the insensitive munitions requirements set by Congress
For our readers in Rio Linda
An insensitive munition is one that will not detonate under any conditions other than its intended mission to destroy a target. If it is struck by fragments from an explosion or hit by a bullet, it will not detonate. It also will not detonate if it is in close proximity to a target that is hit.
It would seem at least one of the “munitions” did not pass the insensitive part.....
From the pics in post 5, it looks like a storage shed. Wasn’t occupied, and the pilot was likely authorized to drop em there. No casualties, pilot safe, F-16 safely landed... good outcome.
If they are two BDU-50s practice bombs that simulate 500 lb Mk-82s then they are harmless unless they have spotting charges.
This one below has no spotting charge in its nose.
Ping.
WT Heck is going on?
ping.
F-16 ping.
Heads up.
There doesn’t appear to be a 500 lb bomb crater in the news pics. Maybe the witness reports of black smoke were from burning jet fuel from the drop tanks.
Who’s revolution?
F-16 jettisons bombs at Hill AFB; no injuries
(AP) – 46 minutes ago
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah — Hill Air Force Base officials say an F-16 jettisoned two 500-pound bombs and two fuel tanks on the base just before making an emergency landing.
Col. Scott J. Zobrist says the pilot ran into trouble after taking off Thursday afternoon and had to return to the base about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City.
He says the pilot had to drop the munitions and tanks to lighten the jet’s load.
Zobrist says it appears one bomb hit an empty tin shack on base. He says there are no injuries and the plane landed safely.
Zobrist says the two fuel tanks are accounted for and the incident is contained to the base.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ikEvzv4SWTp2ykJtFjyKReyKCvdgD9BGFROG0
Prayers up
An F-16 pilot jettisoned two 500-pound bombs and two fuel tanks before making an emergency landing at Hill Air Force Base on Thursday, officials said.
No injuries were reported after the incident at the base about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City. Col. Scott J. Zobrist said it appeared one bomb hit an empty tin shack on base in an uninhabited area.
He said emergency teams were searching the base to make sure the other munition was accounted for. It was unclear whether the second bomb had exploded, said Zobrist, who is commander of the 388th Fighter Wing at the base
http://www.ksro.com/news/article.aspx?id=1473667
If the pilot declared just after takeoff and it was loaded up with gas and party favors, they would have to loose some of that weight in order to NOT snap off the landing gear. The gear on a Viper is strong, but not THAT strong.
So were the requirements insensitive? I'd think a bomb by its very nature is a pretty insensitive thing after it lands and pro'ly VERY sensitive moments before landing.
The incident caused a large explosion that was heard and felt throughout the area.
The explosion was caused when an F-16 pilot from Hill Air Force Base had an "in-flight emergency" on takeoff and jettisoned the plane's "external stores" — two 300-gallon fuel tanks and two unarmed 500-pound munitions, said HAFB Col. Scott J. Zobrist.
"They landed on an uninhabited part of the base," he said. "The aircraft and pilot then landed safely at Hill Air Force Base."
One of the unarmed ordnances is believed to have hit a "small, empty tin shack," which likely resulted in the explosion, the colonel said. A nearby transformer and power lines were also damaged, causing a power outage throughout the military base.
Military officials have accounted for the two fuel tanks, but explosives teams were still trying to assess what happened to the ordnances.
Teams "are proceeding carefully to determine the disposition of the 500-pound munitions," he said. "We're sure they impacted the base … and remain on the base."
Zobrist said it was possible the ordnance could explode or "go off low order," which is why professional teams were looking for the munitions.
Police officials shut down I-15 for a while near the base, but it was re-opened shortly afterward.
Zobrist said environmental crews were also on site to begin cleanup efforts at the areas where the fuel tanks landed.
The colonel said the experienced pilot was following proper procedures. In emergency situations, pilots are trained to reduce their loads in order to land safely.
"With a $25 million airplane and a pilot, we want to make sure we put that airplane on the ground safely," he said.
More details will be posted as they become available.
source: Deseret News, Salt Lake
Wait... what?
Uh, the idea is to prevent the kind of horror seem on the carrier Forrestal - you know, back in 1967, where 134 died and 161 were horibly injured?
You seen the videos - where John McCain is hauling ass away from the jet as it explodes?
The Congress is try to force the makers of these munitions a bit safer to work around.
There is no safe arty - it is deadly to everyone - once it leaves the tube....
Thank you for the ping Jet Jaguar.
#
Note: Video and Google map included.
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=8408701
“Jettisoned munitions cause explosion at Hill Air Force Base”
October 22nd, 2009 @ 6:40pm
By Jennifer Stagg
HILL AIR FORCE BASE —
SNIPPET: “Base officials say an F-16 was having an “in-flight emergency” and jettisoned two fuel tanks and two 500 pound munitions. One or both of the munitions is believed to have hit a base structure, causing a large explosion.
The pilot was able to landed the F-16 safely back at the base, and the two fuel tanks were located.”
SNIPPET: “Base officials still have the base’s West Gate entrance (650 North in Layton) closed and are diverting traffic to the South Gate.
Stay with KSL.com, KSL-TV and KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM for the latest details on this developing story.”
We most defiantly did not need a jammer to load practice bombs. That may not be a live munition, but our BDU's were much smaller, only a few pounds.
I can't believe they're using full size practice bombs, there's just no reason to, and it seems to be a huge waste of material resources.
Not much chance for promotion in that pilot’s future!
We most defiantly did not need a jammer to load practice bombs. That may not be a live munition, but our BDU's were much smaller, only a few pounds.
I can't believe they're using full size practice bombs, there's just no reason to, and it seems to be a huge waste of material resources.
Well, if they were full of concrete it's a BDU 50. You are correct they don't usually practice with full size bombs, but the article above declared them 500 lb bombs that are harmless. Un-fuzed MK-82s or MK-82 bomb body empties??
Of course no jammer is needed for MK-106s and BDU-33 practice bombs as they are small. Ring a bell?
Possible that they were testing one of the new MOB’s?
The F-16 story is a nice cover.
But then again, i have been reading DEBKA lately too.
Thanks Jet, reminds me of the ol’ days at Hill - most folks most likely don’t know they had 33 crashes in 36 months @ Hill before the 388th went fully combat ready in the early 80s. The big concern back then was hydrazine spills during a crash (we were told to duct tape all the windows & doors). I’m thinking most of the crashes were on the range while just a handful at the base itself - mainly from stray voltages along the wire harness.
Sounds like all ended well here - everything considered, still thinking about the young pilot that went down from Shaw AFB last week.
WOW, thankfully no injuries!
I wonder if the pilot was aiming at the tin shed when he pulled the trigger?
Who's on first?
Incorrect in this case. Pilot followed SOP. He will get a “save”.
There was also an explosion at a storage bunker at Medina Facility, Kelly AFB TX in 1963. Medina was a nuclear storage facility at that time. The igloo was completely gone, leaving a hole in the ground about 25 feet deep, maybe 150 feet diameter. Windows were shattered in San Antonio, about 15 miles away. I heard rumors that nuclear material was released.
I work a few miles off Hill AFB. Our brick & cement building shook like a son of a gun. I grew up in So California and I knew it wasn’t an earthquake because it didn’t feel like one. Also, there was a loud boom, not quite sonic sounding but loud..at the same time. My husband who does work on base said the boom was huge there and the earth did move. They lost all power in his building. As of the 9 p.m. (Mountain Time) news they were still looking for the second bomb.
...not so, he got the aircraft back safely, didn't bomb the chow hall....
LOL. We know that wasn’t a 500 lb hit on that shack in the picture unless they left out the crater nearby the shack in that pic. EOD teams will find two full up Mk 80 series about 8 to 18 feet deep that may porpised or could have skipped depending on trajectory an conditions of the ground.
The whump more than not came from a drop tank that went off when it splashed across that shack.
Just my SWAG from here on the couch with what I read here on FR an recovery of such events when I was active duty EOD.
This is why I love FR. There's always someone who knows a whole lot about something, and there's always something to learn.
Thanks for the clarification.
I was a 3rd grader in Amarillo when that happened.
1963 - What a Blast!
Chris Marrou.
Many of us refer to our knowledge of a news event by saying “I heard about that.” We hear about stories all the time in all the media. Only in a few stories can thousands of people say, “I heard that.” But everyone in San Antonio, and I literally mean everyone who was in the city limits, whatever they were doing, heard the explosion at Medina Base (an annex to Kelly AFB) on the morning of November 13, 1963. “A tremendous explosion at Medina Air Force Base rocked San Antonio and a wide surrounding area shortly after 10:30 AM Wednesday,” the San Antonio Light’s story began that afternoon. “People fled the scene in panic. Traffic near Medina was blocked in every direction.”
The subhead got to the point of what most people feared - “No Nuclear Peril, Officials Say.” In order to understand the impact of this you have to consider the environment in which this explosion occurred. It was the Cold War, when there was not a day that an American did not consider the possibility of nuclear war with the Soviet Union.
Not a day. The Cuban Missile Crisis, when Soviets were forced to back off planting nuclear missiles just 90 miles from Florida, had occurred just over a year ago. And then, with no warning, KA-BOOM! No, Excuse me. It was more like, KA-BOOM!!!
Yeah, I know you’re thinking I’m overstating this. But on that same front page of the Light, there’s a photograph of the Continental Bus Station on Broadway downtown. The explosion blew out its front window and shredded its curtains.
The Continental Bus Station was 9.3 miles from the explosion. And there was plenty more damage around town - the bus station was photographed for the simple reason that it was across the street from the Light’s offices. The explosion blew in four dozen windows at Roosevelt Elementary School on Fortuna, also nine miles from Medina Base. Luckily, all 500 students were playing outside when it occurred, avoiding a catastrophe of hundreds of local children with serious cuts from flying glass. “The blast was felt as far away as Castroville, where windows were broken,” the article continued. That was a distance of almost 17 miles.
The next morning the Express noted that picture windows had been broken at the Cadillac dealer downtown - which did not have a window facing west - and several were smashed at Wonderland Center, now known as Crossroads Mall. Almost everyone has heard a tire blow out not far away, or heard a gun fired. This was completely different, orders of magnitude louder. Everyone in town knew immediately this was no average loud noise but something catastrophic.
“The Air Force ordered all aircraft grounded and forbade air traffic over the area. Windows were broken all over the city by the impact of the explosion,” the article continued. “A massive cloud boiled up right after the explosion, rising to a height of about 1,000 feet.” A thousand feet. Imagine you’re somewhere around town and hear a huge blast, then turn and see a cloud of smoke twice as high as the Tower of the Americas. Trust me, you’re gonna think it was a nuke. So did everyone in 1963.
“The sheriff’s department reported cars were stretched bumper to bumper for two miles around the base after the explosion, trying to get out.” And why do I keep harping on the fear of a nuclear blast? Because everyone in town knew that Medina Base stored nukes for the Air Force. Even the Albuquerque Tribune noted it the next day, calling it “the top secret Medina Nuclear Weapons Plant” in its UPI report.
The three men who were closest to the blast, Floyd Lutz, Louis Ehlinger and Hillary Huser, worked for a company that was under contract with the Atomic Energy Commission. Incredibly, none of the three was seriously injured. That UPI story noted that the bunker had contained “13 to 28 tons of TNT,” and it all went up.
A photo in the Express the next day showed a lunar-style blast crater thirty feet deep. Why doesn’t the Medina Base blast rank with the Battle of the Alamo in stories told to tourists by local residents? There are two reasons. One is that no one was killed.
The other is that just over a week later, John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and, like an explosion in time, his death wiped out news events for weeks around it. As for me? I was nowhere near the explosion. It’s just that when it occurred I was in the chemistry laboratory at Robert E. Lee High School running an experiment, and for a moment I thought someone else in the class had blown up the building, it sounded that loud and that close.
But it’s an ill wind that blows nobody good, as they say.
The Express the next morning told the story of Mrs. Myron Wood of 900 Burr Road. It noted that she had “an old onyx clock” that had belonged to her mother that had not worked for 25 years, but “the blast set the clock ticking and it was still functioning properly Wednesday night.” Trust me folks, that was the only ticker affected in a positive way by the blast that day.
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