Things Are Kinda Slow, So Let's Shoot Down an Airliner

[MIflyer]

The Nike Ajax surface to air missile system was a remarkably sophisticated design and was in full operational use by the mid-1950's. The first operational installation was at Ft Meade in Maryland. Except for Ft Meade, all the other Nike sites housed the missiles below ground and raised them to fire as required, thereby greatly reducing the land acquisition required, since the explosive potential of the missiles would have mandated substantial clear zones around the site. Ft Meade was already a military reservation and land was ample.

On 14 April 1955 the Ft Meade site conducted a typical exercise. They tracked a passing airliner with the radar and went through a simulated firing. But the above ground siting of the facility had a disadvantage the underground sites did not; it got rained on. And some of that rainwater collected in a junction box, caused a short circuit, and the missile igniter fired.

Fortunately, while the launcher had been raised to fire, the safety pins had not been withdrawn and the missile left the launch rail only in pieces. One part fell not far from a trailer park and another section ended up on the Baltimore Washington Parkway. The site commander jumped in his personal car, sped to the parkway impact area, and threw the missile parts in the trunk. The nitric acid propellant ate the floor out of the trunk. Reportedly, after a suitable review the Army decided they needed a man of the site commander's caliber at an assignment on Hudson's Bay.

 

[GrauGeist]

There was an above-ground Nike base situated in the hills of North Orange County, amongst oil derricks.

 

[fastmongrel]

My father told me of a test firing of a prototype missile from a missile site on South Uist, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Whoosh off it went, after 10 seconds it was supposed to run out of fuel and crash in the sea but it kept on climbing, the range safety officer was frantically hitting the destruct button but the missile kept on flying till it got to about 100,000 feet then gravity took over. Radar announced there was a flight coming in from Gander and several pairs of RAF blue trousers became brown. Luckily the airliner and missile never came close.

Someone had made a big error and instead of launching a missile with minimum fuel a fully fueled missile had been launched.

 

[Gnomey]

Interesting!

 

[MIflyer]

The Nike system had a remarkably good safety record, considering you had them deployed all over the country, manned by Army troops who presumably beat on them occasionally with greasy ball peen hammers (as they say in the USN). But aside from the Ft Meade incident there was a far more serious one at a town in NJ. They were performing a modification that involved replacing a device that screwed into the missiles, just like a light bulb. Only, the new device did not seem to screw in tight, so some bright guy got the idea to wrap the threads with wire to improve the fit.

The device they were screwing in was the Safe and Arm for the warhead. BLEWIE! Multiple deaths resulted, with considerable damage to the surrounding civilian homes. One of the Nikes there ignited and decided to go see NYC, but fortunately hit a hill nearby.

 

[fastmongrel]

Never underestimate the stupidity of the people who have to look after the expensive boomy stuff.

 

[MIflyer]

Not long after WW2, the USAAF wanted to launch a V-1 type Loon mssile and got permission to use the Navy range at Pt Mugu. They were given a bunker near the beach to use, set up the missile and launched it out over the ocean. The missile turned around and headed back toward the beach. "Hit the destruct button!" the USN rep yelled. The USAAF people replied, "Hit the what?" There was no destruct system. After buzzing the bunker and other facilities a number of times the missile finally crashed into the ocean. The Navy told the USAAF to go away and never come back.