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Oops.

By The Armorer on July 20, 2006 | | Comments (9)

"Hey, Viper! Is the bomb release the *white* knob or the *red* knob?"

"Red, why?"

"Oh, nothing. Just curious."



B-52 mistakenly drops bombs on nearby lake

Associated Press
KANOPOLIS, Kan. - Corey Armstrong and his friends got some company while swimming at Kanopolis Lake on Wednesday - nine practice bombs dropped by accident from a passing B-52 bomber.

"I just saw them, when they hit, it was four splashes pretty much at the same time," said Armstrong, 16, of Salina. "The bomber started flying in circles after that."

Lt. Col. Jeff Jordan, commander of the nearby Smoky Hill National Guard Range, said the bomber dropped the bombs by mistake while on a training mission. He said the plane is based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

Jordan said the bombs, all of which apparently hit the water, were filled with concrete, not explosives, and didn't pose a threat to the public.

He said the base in investigating why the bombs were released.

H/t, Larry K, who lives in the shadow of the Guns of Fort Riley.

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9 Comments

By hdw on July 20, 2006 2:08 PM
Not a threat? I'd agree with not a threat while in the lake, but while falling? Definitely a threat to those below.
 
By Dusty on July 20, 2006 2:21 PM
"They don't pose a threat to the public..." Well, no, not an explosive threat, anyway. And you can get away with that as long as you're talking to the average product of American schools where "one-half-em-vee-squared" is probably thought of as a rap star's handle. Lemme see... (((.5)x226.79618Kg)*((231.5M/Sec)*(231.5M/Sec))) = 6077258.7Kg-M2/Sec2, which seems to me to be a fair amount fo kinetic energy. In layman's terms, a 500lb. concrete-filled Mk-82 hitting the water at, say, 450 knots, will make a fairly big splash. Now, the practice bombs could have been BDUs (25lbs), but I still wouldn't want to try to catch it (trust me...that has been tried). Glad nobody was hurt. Instapilot P.S. Good thing they had time to pitch over and hit at an agle that precluded skipping...
 
By John of Argghhh! on July 20, 2006 2:35 PM
Hey, it's a newspaper report. They don't do the whole "breaking news" well. Even electronic media would have had a problem with this one... "We interrupt our regular programming to bring you an important bulletin... our Live Power Doppler/Bomb Detecting Radar has detected bombs inadvertently falling from a B-52 out by Kanopolis, Major Myles, in our Channel 5 Sky Eye copter is en-route - weather person Katie Horner advises everyone to go to their storm shelter while the bombs are falling... or, failing that, to hop in their bathtub and pull a mattress over them - under no circumstances should you treat this as an earthquake and try to remain standing in a doorway... now here's Major Myles with a live update! (sound like guy hitting chest with fist while talking) "I'm here near Kanopolis Katie and I don't see anything yet - wait! There they are, black specks falling rapidly from the sky. Weather spotter Dusty has called it correctly, they are Mk82s and they have assumed the nose-down attitude. They are falling rapidly down, people at 21344 and 23455 State Route 7 should definitely be in their shelters right now! Wow! Impact! Those things went deep! I see a herd of cattle scattering rapidly... oh, dear, except for one which has disappeared into the ground with one of the bombs! It's carnage out here, Katie - the damage is just terrible! Back to you!" Yeah, I think even the 'lectronic types would have some trouble with breaking news on this one... Not that they wouldn't try. 8^ D
 
By Neffi on July 20, 2006 7:48 PM
Hmmmm... well- that *is* why they're called 'training missions', after all... snerk
 
By jim b on July 20, 2006 8:07 PM
Well since my dear ole mommie tole me if I couldn't say anything nice about someone. Not so say anything at all. Unfortunately that is one of those things I forgot. Concrete bombs pose no threat ... .Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain .. the Great and Powerful Wizard of Ozz has spoken. Here Toto ... Toto???? oh Toto???????
 
By Trias on July 21, 2006 6:05 AM
Better they make a mistake now I suppose than drop that bomb meant for OBL on their mates instead. They might become unpopular.
 
By Karla (threadbndr) on July 21, 2006 9:53 AM
Look out - suspicious boaters and unspecting fish in the target area! Seriously, though. Glad they dumped that load in the lake and not say on I-70! A big hole in the interstate would be seriously embarassing (and dangerous). I went to college just down the road from Fort Riley at KSU, and my future DIL is a student there now. You can hear the 'boom' of the heavy artillery ranges in town. My college roommate used to complain about it. My response, "it's just the sound of freedom."
 
By Casey Tompkins on July 21, 2006 12:36 PM
{oh, the humanity!} As God as my witness, I thought concrete bombs could fly...
 
By John of Argghhh! on July 21, 2006 12:40 PM
Karla - Prodigal Son is a K-State student now. And if you were in the middle 80's - I was providing some of those booms.