In Error, B-52 Flew Over U.S. With Nuclear-Armed Missiles

Washington Post ^ | September 6, 2007

[starlifter]

An Air Force B-52 bomber flew across the central United States last week with six cruise missiles armed with nuclear warheads that were mistakenly attached to the airplane's wing, defense officials said yesterday.

The Stratofortress bomber, based at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, was transporting a dozen Advanced Cruise Missiles to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana on Aug. 30. But crews inadvertently loaded half of them with nuclear warheads attached.

[Domangart]

There would be a message telling them to transfer the body #xxxx to someplace for disposition. The munitions people if things worked properly would remove the warhead and ship it as required. A flight might be going that way. Someone added that package to the flight. Another shift got a order to pull the following missiles :1-6 . The AC Commander must not have followed procedures because we know that he and his boss are gone. The people at Barksdale discover that their inventory is up they have to notify the world. Meanwhile back at MAFB there is an officer at the MSA sitting fat, dumb and happy. That is how it could have happened.

[baltodog]

First, the political corruption in New Jersey...

Then, that Senator in the restroom...

Now, the new Bin Laden video...

Yeahhhhh....it’s all starting to make perfect sense...

[rabidralph]

Who in their life hasn’t grabbed a can of dark red kidney beans when they meant to grab a can of light red?

[A.A. Cunningham]

TYhis(sic) store(sic) is what? two days old.

Were you paying attention you'd have noticed that this is an update and two days from now you still won't be able to spell.

[El Gato]

How can you mistakenly draw six weapons from storage, transport them to the flight line, load them on an airplane, fly them to a different base, then let them sit for 10 hours? All told, I would guess they were unccounted for for at least 15 hours.

Maybe. But then again who says they were drawn from storage? Maybe they were deliberately loaded onto the BUFF, and then left on, probably unintentioinally, for the trip to Barksdale.

Back in The Day, every SAC base had 3 or 4 BUFFs loaded for war, nuclear war sitting on the alert pad at all times. Early on they would scramble, take off and fly to their positive control points, or be recalled before they'd even climbed out. Sometimes they'd be recalled before they got to the takeoff end of the runway.

Earlier they flew airborne alert with nukes on board. Never, ever, did they blow anything up witha nuke, although they did lose one in the Med off Palomares, Spain. The BUFF went down during refueling ops, two of the bombs (of four) had their HE go off on impact, but no nuclear explosion. One landed more or less intact and was found quickly. The fourth fell into the sea, and although it took "only" two weeks to find it, it took over three more months to recover it.

[El Gato]

Nuclear weapons in my day could only be airborne when married to their delivery system in two circumstances: 1) Valid, authenticated EWO message from the National Command Authority; 2) Imminent attack of the base or natural disaster requiring flush launch for asset protection (Buggy Ride).

But earlier they flew airborne alert all the time. After that they would often scramble the alert aircraft, with the crews not knowing if it was real or practice. Then they'd recall them, usually before they taxied out, but sometimes not until they were airborne, sometimes as far as their positive control points.

[starlifter]

Bush One took the Buffs off alert in 1991.

Point is — by all accounts, including the Air Force’s blah-blah, this was a giant “aw shit”.

Having spent a good part of my life in the USAF, I can’t imagine this is a sophisticated “message” as some suggest.

Ol’ Buzz has got to be pissed.

[El Gato]

Having spent a good part of my life in the USAF, I can’t imagine this is a sophisticated “message” as some suggest.

I tend to agree but, I was just reading an account that indicated it was a "routine transfer". Seems unlikely but that's what the article by Rowan Scarborough of The Washington Examiner said:

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters Wednesday that Gates was initially notified by Gen. T. Michael Moseley, Air Force chief of staff.

“Secretary Gates has been assured by General Moseley that the munitions were part of a routine transfer between the two bases and at all times they were in the custody and control of Air Force personnel, and at no time was the public in danger,” Morrell said.