USAF Shacks a Truck. Whoops!

10/16/2008 - NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. - A training weapon fell from an Air Force aircraft on a training mission and struck a vehicle traveling on a road adjacent to the base Oct. 15, said Nellis Air Force Base officials.

The Air Force reports that the weapon, a 25-pound BDU-33, landed near a mobility warehouse on the base before bouncing into the road and striking a civilian vehicle.




The driver was not hurt.

Rumors on Nellis AFB are saying that the bomb was dropped from an A-10 aircraft.

The training bomb is used to simulate the ballistics of real air-to-ground weapons and does not carry explosives. Instead, it carries a small smoke charge used to mark the device's impact point.

Nellis AFB personnel and Las Vegas police are jointly investigating the incident.

Watch the news report.

The Air Force is remiss in admitting it, but this happens from time to time. In 2004, my old F-16 (84-1292) is being flown by the New Jersey Air National Guard. It strafed a middle school one night. Read more about that here. In March, a BDU-33 fell from an F-16 over Tulsa, Okla., striking an apartment building. In January 2007, a training bomb flying on an A-10 fell into a South Korean factory. And in January 2004, a BDU-33 fell from an F-15E and into an English industrial area. No one was injured in the accidents.

The most famous "dropped object" happened when a B-36 dropped an unarmed nuclear bomb and hit an elementary school in Rapid City Iowa.

Japanese Intercept Russians

Oct 8, 2008- F-15's flown by the Japanese Self Defense Force successfully intercepted a pair of Russian Tu-22 bombers. The incident occurred over the Sea of Japan. Moscow announced that the flight was part of their "Stability 2008" exercise. In addition, the Russians claimed that the flight was over international waters, on a routine training mission.



However, the fact that a pair of Su-27 Russian fighters were scrambled to join the bombers after the intercept was quite unusual.

Lieutenant-Colonel Vladimir Drik was quoted as saying by the Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies.

"Four Japanese air force F-15 fighters escorted the strategic aviation crews as they flew over the Sea of Japan."

Two Russian Su-27 fighter jets were also sent up to join the bombers after the Japanese intercept to ensure that the Russian Tu-22 bombers, known in NATO parlance as "Backfire" bombers, completed their mission as planned."

History of previous intercepts

Wreckage of Fossett's Plane Found

A hiker in a remote area of California found items belonging to Steve Fossett, including two of his aviation identification cards, along with several $100 bills.

Rescue crews have found the wreckage of a small plane that appears to be the one piloted by adventurer Steve Fossett when he disappeared in September 2007, the National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday.

The NTSB, which has sent an investigator to the accident site in the rugged eastern California mountains, did not say anything about finding remains of Fossett's body.

Fossett, 63, vanished in a single-engine Bellanca plane after taking off from the airstrip of hotel magnate Barron Hilton's ranch in Nevada. He did not file a flight plan but friends said he was going on a casual pleasure flight.

Fossett held 116 world records, in five different disciplines, 60 of which still stand.

14 world records in airplane flight, two in ballooning, six in glider flight, and one each in airship flight.

He died doing what he Loved.