Air Force Accidentally Dropped Dummy Bombs On Florida After Hitting a Bird (theepochtimes.com) 132
Three dummy bombs have been accidentally dropped over Florida on July 1st. "The incident is suspected to have happened at around 1:15 p.m. about 54 miles southwest of Moody Air Force Base about a mile-and-a-quarter west of Highway 129 near Suwannee Springs," reports The Epoch Times, citing a media release by the Moody Air force Base in Central Georgia. From the report: "During a routine training mission, an A-10C Thunderbolt II assigned to the 23d Fighter Group suffered a bird strike which caused an inadvertent release of three BDU-33s, a small non-explosive training munition," said the 23rd Wing Public Affairs. Authorities are investigating the incidence and no injuries or damages have been reported. The air force base said the dummy bomb released is a 25-pound training munition used to simulate the M1a-82 500-pound bomb.
"It is approximately 22-and-a-half inches long and is blue in color. Although the training munition is inert, it is equipped with a small pyrotechnic charge and should not be handled," it said. The authorities have cautioned people not to touch the munition if they come across it. "If the training munition is found, do not approach it, take note of the location, leave the area and keep others away," said the 23rd Wing Public Affairs. Anybody who sights the munition or has any information about it can contact the 23d Wing Command Post at (229) 257-3501 or their local authorities.
"It is approximately 22-and-a-half inches long and is blue in color. Although the training munition is inert, it is equipped with a small pyrotechnic charge and should not be handled," it said. The authorities have cautioned people not to touch the munition if they come across it. "If the training munition is found, do not approach it, take note of the location, leave the area and keep others away," said the 23rd Wing Public Affairs. Anybody who sights the munition or has any information about it can contact the 23d Wing Command Post at (229) 257-3501 or their local authorities.
Inert? (Score:5, Insightful)
Although the training munition is inert, it is equipped with a small pyrotechnic charge and should not be handled," it said.
This is obviously some strange usage of the word inert that I wasn't previously aware of.
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The pilot of the jet did not know when the bomb fell. “A lot of different speculations as to what might have happened. Some of it could be human error; some of it could be material failure. We just don’t know yet,” said Major General Bud Wyatt, Oklahoma Air National Guard.
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How big was this bird?? The A10 was built to take an ungodly amount of punishment. Hell, there's footage of one having flown back to base with damn near 50% of the skin torn off both its wings, and its engines are designed to chew that shit up and keep functioning. We have a jet with triple-redundant flight controls that can't withstand flying into a bird? I call bullshit.
The A-10 itself was perfectly fine. It probably hit right on the pylon or in just the right place to send a faux signal somehow but apparently the pilot didn't even notice.
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Re: Inert? (Score:1)
And the Warthog loves them back. It's tough, manly love.
Armor piercing birds FTW (Score:2)
What would human error even mean in this case? And apparently the pilot at least wasn't aware that this happened? In the 21st century, do pilots of bombers typically drop the bombs themselves or are there still dedicated specialists who do this? A
Re:Armor piercing birds FTW (Score:5, Insightful)
You should switch to decaf. Calm down and read the summary.
It's an A10. The pilot is the entire crew. He/she would probably feel it when a 500lb bomb gets released, but not a 25lb training bomb. Even three 25lb dummies might go unnoticed..
I'm more surprised that there isn't a "bomb released" light coming on in the cockpit. Surely you'd want to know that it actually released when the magic button was pressed, rather than hung up.
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I'm not in sky is falling mode I just am curious as to how this actually occurs. What's the mechanism here? What
Re:Armor piercing birds FTW (Score:5, Informative)
No doors, the training bombs are on a triple adapter on an underwing hardpoint. I imagine to drop all three either the adapter or the pylon must have been jettisoned. The jettisoning mechanism is probably actuated by a cable, so if the bird hit somewhere along the cable path that could have been the resulting effect.
The A10 is an old design, has nearly no electronics, and is not stealthy. It's built to take a lot of punishment, and to be easy to fix, not to be invulnerable. A bird will still dent a wing, and possibly even punch through it, but it won't damage the wingspar. In normal operation the plane will drop each single bomb, but the pylons are designed to be jettisoned for emergency landings.
Re:Armor piercing birds FTW (Score:5, Informative)
No doors, the training bombs are on a triple adapter on an underwing hardpoint. I imagine to drop all three either the adapter or the pylon must have been jettisoned. The jettisoning mechanism is probably actuated by a cable, so if the bird hit somewhere along the cable path that could have been the resulting effect. The A10 is an old design, has nearly no electronics, and is not stealthy. It's built to take a lot of punishment, and to be easy to fix, not to be invulnerable. A bird will still dent a wing, and possibly even punch through it, but it won't damage the wingspar. In normal operation the plane will drop each single bomb, but the pylons are designed to be jettisoned for emergency landings.
Here's a picture of the beast on what looks like an actual A-10: https://www.af.mil/News/Photos... [af.mil]
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Look, if you don't know anything about the topic stop commenting as if you do.
1) The A10 is a single seat 'tankbuster' designed around a huge gun for low altitude, low speed close air support. There is only a pilot, no co-pilot, no bombardier, no-one else. So human error could only be the pilot's during the mission or the bomb loaders prior to it.
2) The A10 carries its bomb load in underwing pylons, usually in clusters of 3. There is no bomb bay with doors that need to open and greatly affect the aerodynami
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No dude, you're the one running your mouth with no idea what you're talking about. You need to let it go about 4 posts ago.
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My guess was that the bird smacked into the bomb release hardware. I don't know. Is it exposed that way, I know that they used to be, but I don't know anything about modern planes, and they might have said "air resistance", and put a cowling over it.
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Probably thought it'd be less paperwork.
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Re:Armor piercing birds FTW (Score:4, Informative)
BDUs are carried on external bomb racks whose wiring and other bits may be damaged by bird strikes.
Aircraft are not COMPLETELY armored. They couldn't fly if they were. The important bits, like the cockpit, are armored on A-10.
It's common for birds to penetrate fuselage and wing surfaces and structure. Relative velocity matters.
I suggest abandoning preconceptions about tech you don't understand then looking up items of interest.
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Retired USAF maintainer here (avionics on Phantom and Bronco, engines and crew chief on F-16s). Bird impacts can destroy all sorts of structure one might not expect. If it smashed the front of the rack it could do enough damage to release the munitions. BDUs are held by a single small lug. Smash the right bits and unlatching all three is quite plausible. The pics will shortly make the rounds of military aviation sites so we'll see it in detail.
Great attention is paid to preventing uncommanded weapons JETTI
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Again, notice the question marks and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy references.
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This is mostly myth. The A10 is designed to take a lot of AAA fire from below. But for example, they're highly susceptible to RPG fire. This is why they drop bombs from high altitude like an F16 when doing "close air support," they don't fly around using the cannon like people think.
The reason they come back to base with all that damage is that the pilot is sitting in an armored bath tub. Other planes would have crashed simply because the pilot would have been shot a bunch of times already. That's almost th
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Also, uhh, I really want to hear how hitting a bird causes a bomb to be accidentally dropped. From TFA:
The pilot of the jet did not know when the bomb fell. “A lot of different speculations as to what might have happened. Some of it could be human error; some of it could be material failure. We just don’t know yet,” said Major General Bud Wyatt, Oklahoma Air National Guard.
To be clear, the part you quoted was in reference to a similar event in Oklahoma. No bird was involved in that incident. Still doesn't help with explaining anything.
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Although the training munition is inert, it is equipped with a small pyrotechnic charge and should not be handled," it said.
This is obviously some strange usage of the word inert that I wasn't previously aware of.
Well, it doesn't explode with 500lb of explosive for a start. A bit of a burn maybe from a pyrotechnic is a liability, getting scattered across a decent area is something else.
Re:Inert? (Score:5, Informative)
Mk 82 practice bombs have a smoke charge to be able to see where they hit, not the usual 192 pounds of Tritonal high explosive that blow real Mk 82s into itty bitty bits. In many cases the bomb body on practice bombsis still in good enough shape after "exploding" that they can be reused. That's pretty inert for a bomb & the smoke charge would normally have gone off at impact rendering it truly inert but the AF is being cautious.
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Just having 500lbs of inert material fall in you or your house at terminal velocity is probably bad enough.
Kinetic Strike Munitions (Score:3, Informative)
Indeed, it is pretty bad. During the gulf wars, Saddam and others had a tendency to park military equipment right next to occupied schools and such, well within range where if we hit it with a standard explosive munition it'd destroy the school and kill all the students. Totally against the Geneva conventions and actually has the effect of stripping the protections away from the schools - with the military equipment stored there it becomes a valid target.
But we're nicer than that. Strap the good guidance
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it turns out that the KE from a 500 or 2000 pound mass of concrete from a mile or so up will render a vehicle non-usable
They also have the “the flying Ginsu” [militarytimes.com] which augments the kinetic energy with blades that pop out just before impact.
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it turns out that the KE from a 500 or 2000 pound mass of concrete from a mile or so up will render a vehicle non-usable
They also have the “the flying Ginsu” [militarytimes.com] which augments the kinetic energy with blades that pop out just before impact.
Note: This Ginsu is not appropriate for slicing tomatoes.
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IIRC a flying anvil was reportedly used against a house where Saddam's sons were holed up and pretty much destroyed it (and everyone inside)
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When Mao attacked Tibet, they had "bombers" that simply dropped rocks on the protesting people in the streets ... aka bricks, half bricks and fist sized stones from the river.
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It will take your face off if you handle it incorrectly.
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These were 25 pounds; they're shaped to simulate the trajectory of a 500-pounder.
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"sublethal" (Score:2)
but I'm a fan of not bastardizing the English language. Inert means inert. They should have found another adjective to use.
The problem is that the "sublethal" buzzword has already been monopolized by the taser industry. :-P
They probably even trademarked it, fur sure
(also:)
yes yes I appreciate the difference between a training device and an actual bomb,
(you forgot to punctuate with a snark. that's why people are taking you literally)
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No, they're literally not taking him literally, or the military.
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You're getting lots of replies because you thought you were being cute and just came off looking ignorant. Inert is not an absolute term only meaning chemically inactive as it's also comparative term meaning lacking vigour - which a bomb lacking it's main explosive charge certainly is and justifies the use of "inert practice bomb".
The claim that you commented because you're against bastardizing English is doubtful coming from someone who uses the term "assloads".
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Coming from a firearm (not just scientific) background, to me inert already had a pretty well settled meaning. No chemical reactions. No moving parts. If your "inert" bomb can burn someone's face off, I don't really consider that to be inert an
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No, he was being factual and you look ignorant when you don't understand him.
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There's good language evolution and bad, muddling language 'evolution'. If this 'evolution' bleeds over into small arms I think it could conceivably even lead to lives being lost due to misunderstandings arising from the above accepted current usages.
If your "dummy", "ine
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I'm a fan of not bastardizing the English language. Inert means inert. They should have found another adjective to use.
I for one was also upset by this military assault on language comprehension.
They should be ashamed not only of dropping their practice bombs in the wrong place, but also for lying about the dangers in an anti-intellectual manner. When you're explaining your fuckups, that's just not the time for anti-intellectualism.
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Dictionary (Score:2)
There perhaps you should consult a dictionary:
inert: lacking the ability or strength to move.
https://dictionary.cambridge.o... [cambridge.org]
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When talking about explosives, that is the chemical definition, not the historical one.
Right on that page you linked it says:
"chemistry; specialized; Inert substances do not produce a chemical reaction when another substance is added"
Furthermore, when you have a chemical reaction designed to produce heat and smoke ("pyrotechnic") that is motion. Without motion, the smoke never left the device.
Your attempt to be pedantic was defeated by your lack of full literacy.
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"The BDU-33 is used to simulate the MK 82 in low drag configuration." [globalsecurity.org]
It's a Florida news what did you expect ? (Score:1)
See even the Air Force doesn't like Florida. We should chastise the AF for having used dummy bombs, after all if you're going to bomb the shit out of Florida do it right the first time.
Again? (Score:2)
This can't be the first time. Florida has clearly been suffering from the effects of "dummy bombs" for at least a couple of decades.
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You think it is bad now, just wait until Miami is under water and Florida Man tries to save them.
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This is Florida though (Score:2)
So they better hope to have a GPS tracker on those munitions as well.
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So they better hope to have a GPS tracker on those munitions as well.
The thing is basically 25 pounds of steel and/or concrete with a smoke generating flare attached. You can find these things all over the place on old bombing rages dating back to WWI. The only thing you'll gain from stealing one is a mild back ache, unless it's one of the really old ones. The WWI training bombs in particular have some collector's value, especially if the paint is still in good condition.
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he's lifting with his back is the problem
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The thing is basically 25 pounds of steel and/or concrete with a smoke generating flare attached. You can find these things all over the place on old bombing rages dating back to WWI.
+5 Informative. Sounds like a great thing to use for the 4th of July celebration.
"If the training munition is found, do not approach it, take note of the location, leave the area and keep others away," said the 23rd Wing Public Affairs.
Hey, sorry 23rd Wing Public Affairs . . . finders keepers, losers weepers. This thing sounds perfect to scare the living Bejeezus out of your annoying neighbors with their spying Rings.
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Oops . . . I forgot to add my wacky-parsed alternative title:
"Air Force Accidentally Dropped Dummy Bongs On Florida After Flipping a Bird".
I read that the US military was going to support the 4th of July celebrations.
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Sounds like a great thing to use for the 4th of July celebration.
finders keepers, losers weepers
Losers keepers, fingerless weepers.
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Not just practice bombs. I grew up on Army bases. Hiking around the back country meant occasionally coming across a 155 shell (because, for one reason or another, sometimes they just didn't explode when they hit). We were taught that when we found one, we were to turn around and leave the area, and then call the EOD guys to come out and find the thing and dispose of it.
Note, by the by, that if you ever find the grenade
Attention all prisoners of the solar planet Earth. (Score:2)
This incident is a trifle and hardly newsworthy. (Score:2)
It only made Slashdot because the word "bombs" is involved. BDU-33s are little things with only a small spotting charge to aid scoring. Of course the piece is from Epoch Times, but Slashdotters are ignorant enough to post such shit.
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Nothing described as "pyrotechnic" is ever going to also be "non-explosive."
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So in your head a road flare is explosive?
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No, you'd have to be a lot tougher than you are to pull that off.
If you can't figure out what an explosive is, I can't help you. I'm not a dictionary, and I'm not going to read it to you this time.
Once again we have some anti-intellectual person trying to get pedantic. Give it up, you have a major disadvantage over people who enjoy learning what the words actually mean.
Have you ever even used a road flare? What did you think they were, LED lights?
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Straight to the ad hominem, I see.
Simple fact: most pyrotechnics are not explosives. Matches, for an illustrative example. As in this case, pyrotechnics are usually used to make more than a quick flash, but rather burn for some time.
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That's not an ad hominem, you fucking idiot.
Can you read? Go and look up what it means, asshole.
It doesn't mean "directed a pejorative at me while also informing me that I'm wrong." It doesn't mean that at all. It means something else. Something you're unlikely to discover, because you're a raging ignoramus.
It's good that they dropped three (Score:2)
Someone is going to have a cool coffee table.
Inert bombs on Florida? Gawddammit!! (Score:2)
Get a REAL bomb, get back in that plane and FINISH the job!!!1!1!
So (Score:2)
WWIII is just one bird strike away?
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WWIII is just one bird strike away?
Who are the super-powers on your planet, Florida and the Bahamas?
Do you have Captain America and Florida Man, or is it Captain Florida and American Man?
Also, do you come through the mirror in the other story?
Florida Man (Score:1)
So... (Score:2)
...just SLIGHTLY a bomb...?
mnem
Be inert. The world needs all the nerts it can get.
No big deal (Score:1)
At least it wasn't like the Hydrogen bomb they dropped off of Tybee island, that is still out there somewhere. Armed/not armed is still up for debate. I think it's armed as was practice at the time. They of course say it's not. Could be in 12' of mud.
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And if someone gets a bit lost flying over random back country? Perhaps they need more, I don't know, training?
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Florida Man Crashes Into A10, Blames Bird
Pilot uninjured