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http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22375184-663,00.html
Live nuclear boms flown over AmericaArticle from: Font size: Decrease Increase Email article: Email Print article: Print September 07, 2007 12:00am
A UNITED States Air Force B-52 bomber mistakenly armed with live nuclear missiles flew right over millions of Americans - without the crew knowing.
President George W. Bush was immediately notified after the half-dozen missiles, their warheads still attached, were discovered.
"It is absolutely inexcusable that the Air Force lost track of these nuclear warheads, even for a short period of time," said Democrat Edward Markey, who sits on the House Homeland Security Committee. "Nothing like this has ever been reported before, and we have been assured for decades that it was impossible."
An Air Force spokesman insisted "there was never a danger to the American public" and called the missile mishap last Thursday an "isolated incident".
"Air Force standards are very exacting when it comes to munitions handling," Lt-Col Ed Thomas said. "The weapons were always in our custody."
The warheads were supposed to be detached from the missiles before the flight. The foul-up wasn't discovered until after the bomber had flown from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to the Barksdale Air Force Base near Bossier City, Louisiana - a three-hour trip covering more than 1770km.
"It's clearly a serious breach of safety and security rules," said Philip Coyle, senior adviser at the Centre for Defence Information.
An unnamed Air Force munitions squadron commander has already been relieved of his duties.
The flight and ground crews have been barred from handling weapons until the investigation is completed.
The B-52 was loaded with cruise missiles carrying nuclear warheads ranging from five to 150 kilotons in destructive force, mounted onto pylons on the bomber's wings, according to the Military Times newspaper, which broke the story.
"You can wipe out a good-sized city with a 5 kiloton blast," said Jim Riccio, a nuclear policy analyst for Greenpeace.
"A 150-kiloton warhead is 10 times the size of what they dropped on Hiroshima."
Mr Coyle said it was highly unlikely the missiles would have detonated, even in a crash.
In two B-52 crashes in the 1960s, bombs on board did not detonate, but radioactive material was scattered over a wide area.
Live nuclear boms flown over AmericaArticle from: Font size: Decrease Increase Email article: Email Print article: Print September 07, 2007 12:00am
A UNITED States Air Force B-52 bomber mistakenly armed with live nuclear missiles flew right over millions of Americans - without the crew knowing.
President George W. Bush was immediately notified after the half-dozen missiles, their warheads still attached, were discovered.
"It is absolutely inexcusable that the Air Force lost track of these nuclear warheads, even for a short period of time," said Democrat Edward Markey, who sits on the House Homeland Security Committee. "Nothing like this has ever been reported before, and we have been assured for decades that it was impossible."
An Air Force spokesman insisted "there was never a danger to the American public" and called the missile mishap last Thursday an "isolated incident".
"Air Force standards are very exacting when it comes to munitions handling," Lt-Col Ed Thomas said. "The weapons were always in our custody."
The warheads were supposed to be detached from the missiles before the flight. The foul-up wasn't discovered until after the bomber had flown from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to the Barksdale Air Force Base near Bossier City, Louisiana - a three-hour trip covering more than 1770km.
"It's clearly a serious breach of safety and security rules," said Philip Coyle, senior adviser at the Centre for Defence Information.
An unnamed Air Force munitions squadron commander has already been relieved of his duties.
The flight and ground crews have been barred from handling weapons until the investigation is completed.
The B-52 was loaded with cruise missiles carrying nuclear warheads ranging from five to 150 kilotons in destructive force, mounted onto pylons on the bomber's wings, according to the Military Times newspaper, which broke the story.
"You can wipe out a good-sized city with a 5 kiloton blast," said Jim Riccio, a nuclear policy analyst for Greenpeace.
"A 150-kiloton warhead is 10 times the size of what they dropped on Hiroshima."
Mr Coyle said it was highly unlikely the missiles would have detonated, even in a crash.
In two B-52 crashes in the 1960s, bombs on board did not detonate, but radioactive material was scattered over a wide area.
