Air Force query into B-52 incident to continue

[TexasLawyer]

Source: Gannett

Air Force query into B-52 incident to continue
September 15, 2007

By John Andrew Prime

Even though Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne wanted a report about an Aug. 30 B-52 weapons-loading mistake on his desk Friday, it will take a little longer to generate, his office says. "The investigation is ongoing and is expected to continue for at least the next several weeks," Jennifer Bentley, a spokeswoman for Wynne's office, told The Times on Friday.

The incident occurred after a munitions crew at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota left nuclear warheads on six Advanced Cruise Missiles on a 2nd Bomb Wing bomber that returned to Barksdale Air Force Base.

"Although there was never any public danger, the munitions transfer error that occurred was unacceptable and a clear deviation from our exacting standards," Bentley said. "We are committing the appropriate time and resources to ensure, beyond any doubt, that our munitions are safe, secure and absolutely reliable 100 percent of the time."

Air Force Times, a fellow Gannett publication, broke the story Sept. 5. Within hours, the commander of the munitions squadron at Minot was relieved of all duties and the crews that loaded the missiles were decertified from such work.

Read more: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070915/NEWS01/709150343/1060/NEWS01