US jet accidentally drops unarmed bomb in Britain

[WillowIX]

Originally posted by MagiK: Willow: whats that got to do with anything? The point of my post was that you cannot avoid accidents. You can try to lessen the odds, but the fact is...they happen. If you or anyone ever comes up with a way to eliminate all accidents on even a small scale...say just one town...let me know, I can hook you up to become the richest person in Canada.

IT has to do with your original reply. "people are injured and killed every single day in the US armed forces". I am sure that the enlisted men and women are well aware of the dangers they are facing, most of them anyway. However, that is not an excuse for injuring civilians and calling that a training accident.

[Donut]

Originally posted by Night Stalker: Forgive me if I read something into your post that you did not intend. I apologise. It is a risk one runs when speaking in indirect subtlety instead of saying what they mean. You open yourself up to misinterpretation. So, you'll understand that it was possible for me to interpret your post as "The best way to stop American bombs from 'accidentaly' falling on British soil, is to remove American military presence from Britain."

Agreed - I do leave myself open to misinterpretation. On this occasion though you are absolutely right, that's what I meant. HOWEVER! It was said as a joke, I do not support the removal of US bases from the UK. The bases have benefits for both countries.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Donut: There is an investigation going on and we don't know whether it was an accident or a mistake (or both). But taking accidents in general I don't think it's acceptable to say 'don't worry about it - no-one was hurt". If you're cleaning your gun and it goes off and the bullet whistles past my ear please don't tell me not to make a fuss because I wasn't hurt. I'm going to want to know how it could have happened and what you're going to do to avoid the same mistake again. Even more so if you're in my house at the time!

Donut - Yes, an explanation of the event is needed. And as you mentioned, an investigation is being conducted. My guess is that it was human error on the part of the pilot. Of course, it could have just been an accident. Maybe the bomb came loose in it's housing and fell without the pilot's knowledge. Or maybe it is a combination of both. The important thing is that an investigation is being conducted and - hopefully - a full explanation will be provided.

Pritchke - Training accidents do happen, but there is no evidence to support your implication that the U.S. Military just doesn't give a fig. In fact, they also take necessary steps to reduce the number of accidents that occur to a minimum. Look at this incident as an example. The plane was carrying a practice bomb rather than live ammo and the training flight is taking place over the countryside rather than over town or more populated area. BOTH of these are steps taken to lessen the impact of an accident - should one occur. Sounds to me like the military DID take the necessary measures to reduce the effects such an accident would have on innocent people on the ground.

Willow - NOBODY was injured in the accident. Certainly somebody could have been....and that's why the military needs to investigate why the accident occurred (which they are doing). But fortunately, the total effect of the this accident was nothing more than a new hole in the ground.

MagiK - I understand where you're coming from....especially with your military background. I'm sure you've seen plenty of training accidents. I also understand that your comment that "this happens all the time" was not referring specifically to bombs falling out of planes, but rather that "training accidents" of several different varieties occur due solely to the number of training exercises the military holds. Still, I have to agree with Barry and that the comment "this happens all the time and is just part of SOP in the military" does not make an adequate defense and probably isn't very comforting to the innocent civilian Brits living in the countryside where the bomb fell (as Willow pointed out).

Finally, I've lost track of who said it, but this really is a "non-issue". A practice bomb fell in the countryside with NO injuries to civilians or military personnel. So the result of the accident was no harm done to anybody. It does need to be investigated, but it certainly isn't as dramatic an incident as some seem to want to make it.

[Paladin2000]

Tsk, tsk, tsk... either pilot error or the bomb might have came loose. I don't see any need to make it a big issue unless it is armed.

That was me in my earlier post. I said not to make it a big issue as not to over react on subject of who to blame and what should have been done. This is between the US Air Force and the British government. They will take care of it.

I just can't imagine a simple topic like this could have potentially start a flame war. You guys need to chill out.

It is an important issue nonetheless, but not big enough to... *ahem* fight over it.

[ 01-15-2004, 08:06 AM: Message edited by: Paladin2000 ]

[Donut]

Originally posted by Cerek the Barbaric: Finally, I've lost track of who said it, but this really is a "non-issue". A practice bomb fell in the countryside with NO injuries to civilians or military personnel. So the result of the accident was no harm done to anybody. It does need to be investigated, but it certainly isn't as dramatic an incident as some seem to want to make it.

It may well turn out to be a non issue dependent on the findings of the investigation.

If the "mistake" was one that could be recreated on the field of battle at some future time it could cost the lives of civilians or allies. For that reason alone it can't just be dismissed as 'one of those things'.

Originally posted by WillowIX: I am sure that the enlisted men and women are well aware of the dangers they are facing, most of them anyway. However, that is not an excuse for injuring civilians and calling that a training accident.

People who choose to live in and around military bases are not usually ignorant of the fact. It doesn't matter WHO is injured as to wether it is a training accident or not. Training accident is a training accident wether there are no casualties or 1000 casualties...wether they are civilains, military, or livestock. If you want to live in a completely safe world...better start hunting for one, cause there ain't no such thing in this solar system.

As for Non-issues, as far as human lives are concerned this incident was a non-issue. Ascertainng the facts and the processes that lead up to the accident is a vital process too. It may turn out that it was due to a preventable issue...however, it may also turnout to be something completely unpreventable ...such as human error.

[pritchke]

Originally posted by MagiK: As for Non-issues, as far as human lives are concerned this incident was a non-issue. Ascertainng the facts and the processes that lead up to the accident is a vital process too. It may turn out that it was due to a preventable issue...however, it may also turnout to be something completely unpreventable ...such as human error.

Actually human error is preventable, at least the 2nd time. If it is human and that human knows the mistake he made, it is likely he will remember and not do it again. Of course there is always another human but they can be told of the problem in advance if it happened before. Communication is important in preventing incidents caused by human error.

[ 01-19-2004, 06:29 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

Originally posted by pritchke: Actually human error is preventable, at least the 2nd time. If it is human and that human knows the mistake he made, it is likely he will remember and not do it again. Of course there is always another human but they can be told of the problem in advance if it happened before. Communication is important in preventing incidents caused by human error.

Yes, but that first one will kill ya! [img]smile.gif[/img] Seriously the human error isn't preventable. If it is a procedural error that causes the human to make a mistake, then yes the procedure can be corrected or ammended. However nothing will ever protect you from a person who just has a "Spaz Attack" [img]smile.gif[/img]