Bien Hoa Disaster
This prompted more raids into North Vietnam. The B-57 mission continued to increase to the point that it became an around-the-clock commitment. This forced the weapons storage facility to deliver ordnance well ahead of the frag orders. There were bombs stored underneath the wings of the B-57s. The ordnance consisted of 250, 500 and 750-pound general-purpose bombs. Many bombs were armed with time-delay fuses. They were set for 24, 36, 48, 72 and 144-hour delay. All fuses were anti-withdrawal. There were also 750 lb of napalm stored on the ramp.
The prepositioning of this ordnance was the basis for one of the 'worst disasters in Air Force history'. On May 16, 1965, while waiting to takeoff on a mission, a B-57B exploded on the ground at Bien Hoa, setting off a whole chain of secondary explosions. Five 50,000 gallon bladders of
JP-4 jet fuel went up in smoke. When the explosions finally ceased, ten B-57s, one Navy
F-8 Crusader and fifteen A-1Es were destroyed plus several ground support units. Twenty-seven men killed and over 100 were wounded.