GREG NILES
U.S. Army Central
Explosives Safety Manager
Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina

How many times have you heard, "It’s just this one time. What’s the worst that could happen?" Routine tasks that breed complacency and a desire for shortcuts often seem harmless, but they can lead to extremely costly safety mishaps and the loss of life. One such incident happened Sept. 18, 1980, near Damascus, Arkansas. What seemed like just another night of work to a group of U.S. Air Force (USAF) Airmen turned into a mishap that shaped nuclear policy, rewrote emergency response procedures and ultimately ended the Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) program.

On that September night at Launch Complex 374-7, a technician was performing routine maintenance on a Titan II ICBM. He was using an unsecured socket wrench with a 9-pound socket. In a split second, the socket slipped from the wrench and plunged about 80 feet, bouncing off a thrust mount and piercing the missile's first-stage fuel tank. This puncture spilled Aerozine 50 — a hypergolic, self-igniting fuel mixed with dinitrogen tetroxide as an oxidizer — directly into the silo.

Before this incident, ICBMs utilized liquid fuel to power themselves into space. The sheer weight and outward hydraulic pressure of the contained fuel provided critical structural support to the missile's airframe before launch. With the pressure suddenly released and this vital support removed, the missile collapsed upon itself, triggering a cascade of alarms and prompting the immediate evacuation of all nearby residents.

Two Airmen, Sgt. Jeffrey Kennedy and Senior Airman David Livingston, bravely re-entered the silo to take vapor readings. While they were inside, the volatile fuel mixture ignited. The resulting blast was so fierce it flung the 740-ton silo door 200 feet into the air and 600 feet away, crumbling concrete and steel and turning the facility into a chaotic crater. Tragically, Livingston was killed by the explosion, while 21 others were thrown back by the concussive force and sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

The sheer scale of the explosion had another terrifying consequence: the 9-megaton W-53 thermonuclear warhead — an explosive payload 219 times more powerful than both nuclear bombs dropped on Japan during World War II — was blasted over 200 feet from the silo. Think about that for a moment. A fully armed nuclear bomb was catapulted intact from its silo. If a single safety mechanism had failed and caused the weapon to go critical, Damascus, Arkansas, and the surrounding region could have been instantly obliterated. Fortunately, the extensive built-in safeties did their job. The warhead remained dormant, was safely retrieved, and was eventually returned to the Pantex weapons plant for final disposition.

The aftermath of the Damascus incident changed the military landscape forever. State and federal agencies drastically updated their warning and evacuation systems. By September 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced that all 54 Titan II missiles would be phased out and replaced with safer, solid-fuel missiles, which were less volatile than liquid Aerozine 50. Launch Complex 374-7 itself was permanently sealed and filled with gravel and concrete debris.

Lessons Learned

Imagine working in a silo at midnight, surrounded by toxic chemicals and a multi-megaton bomb, only for a single, stupid mistake to send that bomb flying into the night sky. That is exactly what the Damascus incident was. A wrench dropped, and nearly a half dozen towns and countless lives were instantly on the line. The primary takeaway from this historical tragedy is that a small mistake can lead to massive risks. A young Airman's brief moment of complacency nearly led to a nuclear disaster on American soil.

The Damascus incident served as a wake-up call, leading to more comprehensive training, emergency response and safety programs across state governments and the Department of Defense. Millions of dollars were spent, an Airman lost his life and several individuals were injured. Yet it all could have been prevented if one individual had simply put a safety strap around his wrench before use, exactly as outlined in the standard operating procedures.

Did You Know?

Most ammunition and explosives mishaps are preventable. Failure to follow proper handling procedures and Soldiers not wearing the proper personnel protect equipment are common mistakes. Inadequate training, lack of leader involvement and overconfidence are often cited as contributing factors in mishaps. The U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center website’s Explosives Safety page has a wide variety of tools and resources to ensure safe operations. Check it out at https://safety.army.mil/ON-DUTY/Explosives-Safety.