Ex Douglas Driver
14th Aug 2005, 10:12
RANGE INCIDENT – DELAMERE AIR WEAPONS RANGE 11/08/2005
A weapon released from a United States Marine Corps (USMC) F/A-18 Hornet struck the ground in close proximity to a control building on the Delamere Air Weapons Range in the Northern Territory last night.
Emergency procedures were activated and no personnel were injured during the incident.
Initial reporting indicates that there has been some damage to range facilities however due to the remote locality of the range and on-going inspections, full details are not available.
All bombing operations on the range have ceased and will not resume until appropriate investigations are complete.
The safety of all our people is paramount. For that reason a full investigation will be conducted by the RAAF Directorate of Flying Safety in consultation with the USMC and relevant external agencies.
No further details are available at this time and any speculation as to the cause of the accident would be inappropriate while investigations are on-going.
RAAF Base Tindal is currently providing logistics support to approximately 500 personnel, 15 F/A-18 Hornets and 2 KC-130 Hercules from the United States Marine Corps’ Japan-based aviation units during their annual exercise, "Southern Frontier".
A weapon released from a United States Marine Corps (USMC) F/A-18 Hornet struck the ground in close proximity to a control building on the Delamere Air Weapons Range in the Northern Territory last night.
Emergency procedures were activated and no personnel were injured during the incident.
Initial reporting indicates that there has been some damage to range facilities however due to the remote locality of the range and on-going inspections, full details are not available.
All bombing operations on the range have ceased and will not resume until appropriate investigations are complete.
The safety of all our people is paramount. For that reason a full investigation will be conducted by the RAAF Directorate of Flying Safety in consultation with the USMC and relevant external agencies.
No further details are available at this time and any speculation as to the cause of the accident would be inappropriate while investigations are on-going.
RAAF Base Tindal is currently providing logistics support to approximately 500 personnel, 15 F/A-18 Hornets and 2 KC-130 Hercules from the United States Marine Corps’ Japan-based aviation units during their annual exercise, "Southern Frontier".