Posted on 07/22/2002 6:48:23 AM PDT by TADSLOS
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. – The Air Force has grounded a fighter pilot who accidentally dropped three dummy bombs, including one that fell on a house.
The pilot did not know his F-117A stealth fighter was carrying the 25-pound practice bombs as he targeted trash bins and other structures during a training exercise Tuesday, the pilot's wing commander said yesterday.
"This is not the way we do business, and we're very disappointed it happened," Brig. Gen. Marc Rogers said.
The pilot, whose name was not released, dropped the bombs on a home in Monahans, Texas, and near roads in Pecos, Texas, and Maljimar, N.M.
No one was injured.
The pilot was suspended pending an investigation.
"What they did, that was negligence," said Gloria Aker, who was home with her young son and 17-year-old daughter when the practice bomb slammed through her roof, into a bathroom and plowed six feet into the ground. "They could have killed my kids."
Aker initially could not find her son in his bedroom.
"There was smoke," Aker said. "I was screaming and he didn't answer me."
Rogers said training flights are routinely flown around the Southwest using cameras to simulate bombs aimed at targets, sometimes in populated areas.
Rogers said a routine preflight check, performed by pilots and maintenance personnel, includes an inspection of the bomb bay.
But other factors, including a mechanical failure in the plane, may have caused the accident, he said.
Rogers said the Air Force will repair Aker's home.
Well, sounds like he hit what he was aiming for, in my mind a Kill is a Kill.
I explain some of my other "off range" activities when granted immunity.
There were no phones in the community, but one resident was a HAM radio operator who was able to contact somebody who in turn notified the Air Force what was going on. Fortunately, no one was injured. The Ledger Gazette newspaper had a big write up on it at the time, but that paper is no longer around.
The local paper comes out once a week even if there is no news. Half the paper was about this.
This is a small town, very patriotic, and was very shocked that this happened to them, with so much desert around to practice on cows or old oilfield equipment. It is not far from the old long gone Rattlesnake Bomber Base of WWII fame.
I am about 15 blocks away from the site and NO I have not driven over to look at it. The Brass came in, checked for radioactive material, kept everyone away, said we are sorry, will pay the damages and departed. They called about two hours after the drop to let the local authorities know they “thought” they had hit a house here.
When they called they knew what had been done.
Not too many years ago meteorites hit this town and that was what the locals thought it was until they were notified by the Brass.
Yep. One winter while conducting Carrier Quals off the VA Capes , there was a F-18 that had "problems" with a Sidewinder it was carrying.
The Ordies messed with this thing a good five minutes, shaking it, folding and unfolding the wings, checking this and that.
The Air Boss was growing impatient with the delay and issued them an ultimatum, "Either the bird is up or down, which is it?".
The Ordies give it a thumbs up, it approached the catapult, went through the final checks and the plane was launched.
Halfway down the catapult track, the Sidewinder fell off and scraped it's way down the flight deck, and went off the bow of the ship, into Davey Jones' locker.
The Air Boss said, "CAG (Carrier Air Group) Ordnance Officer, come see me in Pri Fly, Now!"
I'm sure he got a good a** chewing.
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