Air Force fighter jet drops three 25-pound dummy training bombs over Florida after a bird strike causes their ‘inadvertent release’
- An A-10C Thunderbolt II jet had taken off from Moody Air Force Base in Georgia
- The fighter jet was on a routine training mission when it hit a bird on Monday
- The ‘bird strike’ caused the ‘inadvertent release’ of 3 bombs, the Air Force said
- Luckily, the BDU-33s it dropped were nonexplosive dummy training munitions
- There were no injuries but the Air Force didn’t know where the bombs landed
- The drop site is believed to be around 54 miles south of the Moody Air base
- The bombs haven’t been recovered and shouldn’t be handled as they contain small pyrotechnic charges
The Air Force is investigating after a fighter jet struck a bird and dropped three 25-pound bombs over northern Florida on Monday afternoon.
Luckily, the BDU-33 bombs are non-explosive dummy training munitions and there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
But the bombs – which have not yet been recovered – contain small pyrotechnic charges and should not be handled by anyone who finds them, the Air Force said.
Moody Air Force base said an A-10C Thunderbolt II jet like the one pictured (file image) was on a training mission when a ‘bird strike’ caused the ‘inadvertent release’ of the dummy bombs
Luckily, the BDU-33 bombs the jet dropped (file) are non-explosive dummy training munitions. They’re used to simulate M1a-82 500-pound bomb and are around 22 and a half inches long
A ‘bird strike’ caused the ‘inadvertent release’ of the three bombs at around 1:15 p.m., the Moody Air Force Base in central Georgia said in a news release.
The incident happened during a routine training mission, after an A-10C Thunderbolt II assigned to the 23rd Fighter Group took off from Moody Air Force base located in Lowndes County, Georgia.
The Air Force said it did not know where the bombs landed, but believed it was around 54 miles south of the base near Suwannee Springs.
The fighter jet had taken off from Moody Air Force Base in central Georgia on Monday afternoon
The Air Force said it did not know where the bombs landed, but believed it was around 54 miles south of the base near Suwannee Springs
The drop site is estimated to be two kilometers west of Highway 129.
The BDU-33 is used to simulate the M1a-82 500-pound bomb, is approximately 22 and a half inches long and is blue in color.
‘If the training munition is found, do not approach it, take note of the location, leave the area and keep others away,’ the Air Force said in a statement.
Then, people are asked to contact the 23rd Wing Command Post at (229) 257-3501 or local authorities.