USA / FILE: U.S. Air Force removes four officers from their posts after nuclear missiles were mistakenly flown between two bases in the United States
- 00:00:12
- ITN Source
USA / FILE: U.S. Air Force removes four officers from their posts after nuclear missiles were mistakenly flown between two bases in the United States
Four U.S. Air Force officers have been relieved of command after nuclear missiles were mistakenly flown between two bases in the United States, the US Air Force confirmed on Friday (October 19, 2007). Three colonels and a lieutenant colonel were removed from their posts while about 65 Air Force members had their permission to handle nuclear weapons withdrawn as a result of the incident, which took place in late August, officials said. "This was a serious error that was caused by a breakdown of procedural discipline by airmen," said Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard Newton, briefing reporters on an investigation into the incident. "We are accountable," he said. On August 29, six cruise missiles armed with nuclear warheads were taken out of shelters at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota and loaded onto one wing of a B-52 bomber, where they remained overnight, Air Force officials said. Six missiles not armed with nuclear warheads were loaded onto the other wing of the aircraft. Newton said the flight line at the air base was secure while the weapons were on the aircraft but he acknowledged the security level was "not up to the standards that we would have liked" for nuclear arms. The following day, the aircraft flew to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, where the error was discovered, the Air Force said. Both President George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were alerted to the mistake when it was discovered and the Air Force launched an investigation. The B-52 was meant to ferry only cruise missiles without nuclear warheads as part of a program to consolidate weapons for decommissioning, Newton said at the Pentagon. He said a series of procedures and checks should have prevented the package of six weapons from being identified for transfer, transported to the plane and flown to Barksdale, but none of them had been followed.
ITN Source | October 20, 2007
