Posted on 10/24/2009 10:49:16 AM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
Ah, the big red button on the upper left that should be labeled "Oh S!"
I suppose external stores jettison sounds better in official paperwork.
/johnny
Unit cost $268.50 (in 2000)
(wiki)
An environmental contractor will be used to remove the fuel by excavating the soil.
OH PLEASE.
>> Glad everybody’s OK.
Yeah, except for one thing - the pilot can’t sit down - his a$$ is still sore from taking a big bite out of the airplane’s seat cushion ;o)
>> Base emergency personnel will dispose of one unexploded bomb today by blowing it up in place.
Can we watch?
No doubt. When that F-16 dropped its tanks on Antelope Island last year, they determined that it was best to pick up the tank pieces and leave the fuel where it is because bacteria would break down and dispose of the fuel naturally. Why can’t they do that here?
From Salt Lake Tribune:
Military: Let nature deal with jet fuel at lake
By Mike Stark
The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 12/20/2008 03:34:02 PM MST
SALT LAKE CITY » Military officials plan to leave alone the remaining jet fuel from two F-16 tanks jettisoned over the Great Salt Lake last week.
Hill Air Force Base officials said they’ll let natural processes break down fuel left in the soil.
Most of the fuel evaporated shortly after impact and there’s no sign that it’s building up in the water or low spots in the area, according to Col. Linda Medler, 75th Air Base Wing Commander. The process of “natural attenuation” will deal with what’s left behind, she said.
“The bacteria population naturally found in the ground is very good at breaking down and eliminating fuels from the environment,” she said in a statement.
There was an engine failure the day before at a local airport in Wickenburg, AZ that required an emergency landing. This one wound up off the runway with its landing gear collapsed: http://www.f-16.net/news_article3874.html
The engine guys are probably not having happy days right now.
To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity
And the reason this pilot is described as being a male is....
You got me. I guess the press felt the need to tell us SOMETHING about the pilot.
It’s true, we bombed our own base.
At least the landing gear worked.
The naturally occuring bacteria will eliminate the fuel from the environment in a year or so. The removed soil will be spread out somewhere where the naturally occuring bacterial will eliminate the fuel from the enviroment in a year or so.
From the Salt Lake Tribune
WTFO??!!
Emergency jettison is not supposed to arm the ordnance. I was under the impression that the bomb rack would drop off the airframe as opposed to dropping the bomb and allowing the arming wire to be withdrawn. In addition, once the arming wire is pulled it allows an air driven vane to rotate and arm the fuse. It always takes a set number of turns to arm, to give the plane time to clear the frag pattern.
There are some ground support and ordnance handlers that have a lot of explaining to do. We may well see charges on this before it’s all over.
That pointy little thingy is just decoration, each airplane has one of a color of the pilots choosing, so he/she can remember which airplane is his/hers. You know they all look alike, so it is an identifer.
Hi johnny! Cool up there?
I am in environmental due diligence and this is what is done a lot with leaking tank sites (like gas stations).
If the levels of contamination are high, the soil is removed and placed in a toxic dump. If water contamination is high, the water is pumped out, treated to remove contamination and replaced in the ground or sent to the sewer system.
If the soil contamination is low, it will be left out for the volatile organic compounds to evaporate or break down by bacteria.
After groundwater contamination is below a certain level, the natural bacterial degradation or attenuation (dilution) is allowed to occur.
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