Ooops!

[Morf]

Nice one!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/7027059.stm

[N Joe]

Similar incident in Goose a few years ago, but this time, it hung-up when released and came off on landing. Trashed various protrusions on the underside of the aircraft but it was easy to find. Just followed the bouncing bomb scuff-marks along the runway.

And yes, it really was a 617 crew!

N Joe

[Kitbag]

From the link 'Practice bombs are not live devices but are made to look and feel like real bombs.
The Ministry of Defence said they weighed the same as real ammunition and were carried on planes during training exercises to give pilots practice at flying with the necessary load.'

14 kg bomb? Another good bit of misinformation from the MoD

[soddim]

Sounds like a gross error to me - QWIs should score it as such.

[Mr C Hinecap]

Made a line on Newsnight tonight as well. Oh the coverage we get.

[Seldomfitforpurpose]

soddim is in fact an anagram of nazi..............apparantly :rolleyes:

[Mactlsm1]

DOH!!!!!!!!

Does this justify anything more?
It's just another "Hang-Up" -or rather a "Drop-off"


Mac

[harrogate]

It happens.

Here's a few similar 'fun' stories:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/4587796.stm - Harrier 'drop' tank.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/3521919.stm - F15 bomb drop.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/2931099.stm - F15 sonic boom.

[High_lander]

Just followed the bouncing bomb...
...it really was a 617 crew!


Good to see them practicing[:

[TOPBUNKER]

"even if the concrete device had survived the fall,"

Is the MoD spokestosser suggesting that it might burn up on re-entry or something?

[Mr_Hippo]

Are we talking about a BDU-33? When I worked at the weapons delivery range at Taif, I was walking through the workshop and one of RSAF's finest - an F-15 pilot put a BDU in a vice. He was just about to attack it with a hammer & chisel! "I want to see what's inside!"

[Caspian237]

Even if the practice bomb survived the fall, we would stress it is highly unlikely to represent a significant danger to the public


RAF:- I'm sorry Mrs Jones, we've accidentally dropped 14kgs of concrete on you husband's head from 3000ft. Don't worry though. It didn't explode. :O

Mrs Jones:- :{

[c-bert]

The Ministry of Defence said they weighed the same as real ammunition

14kg?!

Erm, surely a 500lb bomb (227kg) weighs more than 14kg :confused:

[MostlyHarmless]

Easier for the poor, stupid public to understand than saying "It has the same ballistic properties", I suppose. All this dumbing down is just *great* :sad:

[TMJ]

From the link 'Practice bombs are not live devices but are made to look and feel like real bombs.
The Ministry of Defence said they weighed the same as real ammunition and were carried on planes during training exercises to give pilots practice at flying with the necessary load.'

14 kg bomb? Another good bit of misinformation from the MoD


Or possibly a journalist misunderstanding "has the same aerodynamic properties as" as "weighs the same as"...

[coolblackcat]

Uups, wrong button :ugh:

[green granite]

Had an incident with a 1000lb retarded inert bomb at West Freugh in the late 60's. Because we wanted it to land in a specific place on a concrete pad, the release was done by having a row of upward facing spot lights that triggered the bomb release via photocells on the underside of the wing. During the run in from the IP the Bucc passed over a greenhouse with the sun shining on it. :ugh::ugh: ( The farmer was quite nice about it really)

[ZH875]

Can we assume that the WSO had the weapon switches set to live? :oh:

New training methods are obviously working!. :)

[JagRigger]

I was presented with a deactived 3kg after I found one in the crash net at Colt.

Turns out it fell off on rotate - I believe the cause was excess carbon build up in the CBLS had caused the release mechanism to not go ' fully home '

[High_lander]

So not one of these little jobbies (look beneath the a/c)
http://fc.airliners.net/photos/middle/9/8/4/1055489.jpg

[Bob Viking]

Nope.
That's a 3kg bomb!
A 14 kg bomb is MILES bigger than that one!
BV:E

[Caspian237]

Yeah C-Bert my inititial feeling were the same as your regarding 14kg but I was just going by what the article said.

[Wee Jock McPlop]

High Lander,

Are we so short of the real stuff that we have resorted to dropping 3kg jobbies.:eek: Kind of a new chemical weapon then eh?

[r supwoods]

... Yet another Lossie incident :oh:

[Mactlsm1]

Mostly Harmless says "Easier for the poor, stupid public to understand than saying "It has the same ballistic properties", I suppose. All this dumbing down is just *great*"

So it wasn't a "Smart bomb" then?

Glad that no-one was hurt on the ground, but come on....

Mac

[vecvechookattack]

A quick question for the light blue chaps. Will the aircrew be in the poo for this? Are we talking Discharge here or just a summary punishment?

[ZH875]

Nah, they will just say the bombheads never fitted it. :O

[r supwoods]

The RAF has a No Blame Culture ..... it says!

[BOAC]

Are we talking Discharge here or just a summary punishment?
- maybe they'll get an early release...................

[ZH875]

- maybe they'll get an early release...................

That will be a weight off their mind.

[Double Zero]

Unless the Tornado is for a strange new reason carrying super-size 'practice' bombs, 3kg is indeed about right.

They have the same ballistic characteristics as the full size item, and being able to carry 4 on each of possibly several carriers gives the aircrew a few goes for training.

Hollow steel body, on test ranges a frangible nosecap with a 'smoke & flash' tiny firework is fitted ( about the same effect, really, as a bag of flour ) to give a visual cue for cameras & ground observers as to where it hit re. the target.

No explosive potential whatsoever, but it would disimprove one's day if supremely unlucky enough to receive one on the head.

On ranges, any accidental release, usually by incorrect switching but sometimes possibly by a fault in a stores management system, required a full brief from the Aircrew & Flight Test to show the Range Control ' what went wrong & why it isn't going to happen again ' before they were allowed to continue trials.

No particular blot on a pilot's ( we were Harrier trials team so no navigator -W/O ) record - it was a high stress environment with new aircraft or systems or both - but if he did it twice questions might be asked...

As to losing a practice bomb on a cross country flight, I imagine most of the above still applies.

[osbo]

00

nope, 14kg it says. Why would you doubt it? Here's the manufacturer's leaflet (NB it's the big one at the top of the picture).

http://www.portsmouth-aviation.co.uk/Downloads/14kgPracticeBomb.pdf

I'm surprised you're not familiar with it.

Perhaps it was just a little heavy for the Harrier :rolleyes:

[Wrathmonk]

Seems to be a lot of assumptions that the aircrew knew that they had released a 14kg PB. You would have thought if that was the case (switch pigs during a SAP?) they would know where it landed. As I see it they knew that it was there when they took off and that it was missing when they landed 90 minutes later - from this my guess is it just fell off, probably whilst manoeuvering (sp?). The crew cannot be held to account for this. Perhaps the crutching mechanism on the CBLS was worn. Who knows.

[green granite]

Presumably the 14Kg one is the replacement for the 28lb practice bomb that we used back int the 60's.

[Utrinque Apparatus]

r supwoods,

"The RAF has a No Blame Culture ..... it says!"

And whose fault is that ? :}



Anyway, we are apparently now training with little weapons to avoid casualties (and headlines) on either side to keep wee two jobbies happy

[woptb]

Another new weapon was pioneered in Belize in 87, christened "cluster SNEB",all down to worn catches on a SNEB can & a trail of unexploded rockets.