Flying Nukes

The U.S. Air Force reported that cruise missiles with nuclear warheads were mistakenly mounted on the wings of a B-52 bomber and flown from North Dakota to Louisiana on August 30, 2007.

Fast Facts

1. Date of incident: August 30, 2005
2. Original plan: transport non-nuclear advanced cruise missiles ¹
3. Warheads unaccounted for an approximate 3 and one-half hour flight¹
4. President George W. Bush and Robert Gates alerted immediately

Pentagon Investigation

The incident, along with several other Air Force mishaps became the focus of an investigation by the Pentagon. In June of 2008, several high ranking Air Force officials including Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force Michael Moseley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne were forced to resign.

Categories