Oops.

The code words "Broken Arrow" used by the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the most severe level of a nuclear weapon mishap reportedly were invoked Nov. 7 when a Trident I C4 missile was damaged while being removed from the submarine USS Georgia in Bangor. [...] According to former Navy officer Walt Fitzpatrick, the Nov. 7 incident happened when the [Trident I C4] missile from tube No. 16 was hauled up and smacked into an access ladder that had been left in the tube, slicing a 9-inch hole in the missile's nose cone. The ladder is placed inside the silo after the tube hatch is opened so a sailor can climb inside to attach a hoist to lift the intercontinental ballistic missile out of the tube. After attaching the hoist, the sailor climbs out and the ladder is to be removed before the missile is lifted out. The crew members reportedly took a break, and when they returned, they began to hoist out the missile without removing the ladder, damaging the nose cone. Although there would not have been a nuclear explosion, a radiation release or non-nuclear explosion was possible, Fitzpatrick claims.

Are you fucking kidding me? A nuclear missile "smacked into" an access ladder and tore a 9-inch hole in it? I'm sorry, but this strikes me as a fair bit more terrifying than gay marriage or Janet's nipple.

Posted by flow Frazao on March 11, 2004 at 03:04 PM | Permalink