Oops! Warplane Drops Fake Practice Bomb

[babylonsister]

http://www.att.net/s/editorial.dll?pnum=1&bfromind=7434&eeid=5496735&_sitecat=1522&dcatid=0&eetype=article&render=y&ac=2&ck=&ch=ne

Warplane Drops Fake Practice Bomb
Published: 10/30/07, 5:05 PM EDT

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.

[JuniperLea]

1. This is unacceptable!

First we can't even keep track of the real bombs, now this!!! What if this had mistakenly been a real bomb???

These fuckers need their asses fired!

[muntrv]

2. What? They dropped George Bush?

:evilgrin:

[lumberjack_jeff]

3. A "fake practice bomb"?

Give me ambiguity or give me something else!

[WillowTree]

7. Too true.

One can only wonder what would happen if they dropped a real practice bomb.

[Pavulon]

4. A "Marker"

device. 10lbs could hurt you badly. However it depends on how it came off the plane. If the mount broke, not the pilot. If he released it by accident, career ender.

[Booster]

5. Man, I get the feeling we have dumbed down our military to a very

dangerous point. Deadly mistakes are being made left and right and it's getting a little weird.

[AwareOne]

6. Whoops! That's why they practice

I bet he won't do it again.

[1000evorlrak]

8. Thank you

for some common sense. It was a training accident, it happens.

Thankfully, no one was injured in this training accident. Just review why it happened, thank providence that no one was hurt, and see what can be done to keep it from happening next time.