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Home Front: WoT
Warplane Drops Fake Practice Bomb
2007-10-31
Ooops.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - A small, inert training bomb fell Tuesday from a fighter jet that was heading to an air station, the Navy said. No one was hurt. The 10-pound bomb scraped a warehouse's concrete exterior wall in the resort city of Virginia Beach, causing ``extremely minimal damage,'' Navy spokesman Mike Maus said.

The F/A-18C Hornet was returning to Oceana Naval Air Station after a training mission at the Navy's bombing range in Dare County, N.C., when it dropped the bomb as it was landing, Maus said. He did not know the jet's altitude. The jet was undamaged and landed safely, Maus said. A Navy board will investigate and determine whether the pilot should be punished, Maus said. The Navy did not release the pilot's name.

The bomb was a BDU-48, which carries an explosive charge that emits smoke upon impact, Maus said. Air crews practice air-to-ground bombing using such ``bomb dumb units'' as a low-cost alternative to live ordnance, he said.
Posted by:Steve White

#8  Urban legend around NAS WHidbey recalls the exploits of VA-196; they (allegedly) dropped a 500 pound bomb on a tugboat, but it did not go off, but did (supposedly) pierce the deck and lodge in the bilge.
web search of snopes.com and various A-6 Intruder websites failed to confirm or deny.
not the fault of the AO's strictly an aircrew thingy ( if true)
Posted by: USN,Ret.   2007-10-31 17:27  

#7  Steve-

Could be the "BB stackers" did a bad job

The 'BB stackers' are the storage/handling maintenance guys, the loaders (AKA muzzlefu*kers) are the ones who hang them on the birds. I was a BB stacker for 20 years and I am deeply offended that you would confuse me with one of....those.

My seconds shall call upon you in the morning. :)

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2007-10-31 17:12  

#6  Steve,

Was this a CBS bomb (fake but practice)?
Posted by: Jack is Back!   2007-10-31 14:14  

#5  This should be a punishable mistake IMHO.

Why didn't he drop all his practise bombs?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2007-10-31 09:53  

#4  Could be the "BB stackers" did a bad job attaching the bomb to the aircraft instead of the pilot.
Posted by: Steve   2007-10-31 07:34  

#3  Either that or "oopsie". ;-)
Posted by: lotp   2007-10-31 05:37  

#2  The Navy did not release the pilot's name.

But back at ONAS and the unit his new handle is LtCdr Richard "Warehouse" Smith. You can bet on that.
Posted by: Besoeker   2007-10-31 01:41  

#1  Good thing it wasn't one of those practice nuclear bombs.
Posted by: danking70   2007-10-31 00:32  

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