A Brief History of: The 1980 Damascus Titan 2 Accident (Short Documentary)

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It is 1980 and in rural Arkansas north of Damascus, a fuel leak would result in disaster within a Nuclear missile silo.
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Sources:
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4.www.arkansason...

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thanks for watching! Would you like me to cover anymore Broken Arrow incidents? Let me know in the comments!

[@sparklesparklesparkle6318]

did you really just say that man was propelled 150ft and all he got was a broken leg?

[@MarkusxJxKeetz]

I’d say go for it! Hell, I’d love a video on reactors that are decommissioned or in the process of being decommissioned. Also, like I said on other videos, love these videos :) It’s always fun to learn or relearn about accidents :)

[@madcatlover7554]

Go for it mate, this one was a treat to listen to

[@fhuber7507]

Cover all that have been declassified...

[@daltonmeek9986]

Yessssss

[@hoey2323]

"Guy drops wrench, nearly destroys Arkansas."

[@franimal007]

It may have been a Right Wing Conspiracy after all the Clintons ruled that state. LOL...I am joking! Duh.

[@AliasUndercover]

Film at 11.

[@Gr0g234]

So close 😩

[@JAMESWUERTELE]

He dropped a socket, not a wrench

[@serkotsins]

more like the entire united states bc it woulda created a ripple effect and set off more 😋

[@gottabesandi]

This is scary and fascinating! I grew up in central/western North Dakota (which is close to the center of the North American continent) so there were Minutemen launch sites EVERYWHERE. They were super subtle, just a vague fenced in area with a couple signs posted to prevent trespassing. The weird part is if you drove by too many times, or stop on the road near the approach to the site, an army vehicle would appear OUT OF NO WHERE. Nobody really noticed or paid attention to those sites so I didn’t even know THAT’S what they were for until I got older.

[@veg1run]

What many people didn't know, to this day, is that 20% to 30% of the Titan 1 & Titan 2 missiles were expected to either fail to launch or fail to reach the apex of the programmed trajectory or fail to hit the target.

[@scottmccrea1873]

I grew up in San Diego there were ICBM silos in the Laguna Mountains tho they were abandoned in the 70s I believe.

[@yuricorrea2491]

So THAT'S where my 10mm socket went.

[@DJPhilTBCollins]

There's a magical place somewhere full of lost socks, 10mm sockets, springs lost in disassembly, and screw holes that vanish off of reassembled objects leaving extra screws.

[@TiaNloko]

Sounded more like a 100mm socket lol

[@SlidewaysMotion]

But its American, its gotta be a 3/4 that got dropped. I havent seen my 3/4 in socket in years, i just use a wrench. Coincidence? I think not.

[@z_polarcat]

DJPhilTBCollins yeah, it's my shop's floor

[@Penguin_of_Death]

@@SlidewaysMotion There's no way your 3/4" socket weighed 3.4kgs though...so I think you've got to continue looking...

[@bocbinsgames6745]

"in rural Arkansas" And before I was wondering what happened in Damascus, Syria

[@knockrotter9372]

Here I was thinking it was Damascus Oregon

[@huverdoose]

I was thinking maybe _I_ was the Damascus.

[@nottoday3817]

Same

[@dillan2.032]

Damascus Arkansas is shit But it's got a cool story though I'm a mom is coming back from a party at Conway when that some bits went off and she thought there is a new killer holocaust fixing to go down I was like I but that was a wonderful conclusion to your day she Said no She sat the whole goddam world was over

[@BestWeedVideos]

Same

[@VerityFraser]

"If you were lucky enough to survive the blast..." Going to be honest, if I'm ever to be involved in a nuclear explosion, that thing better detonate right above my head without me knowing it was coming.

[@esthernunn5610]

I always say that too lol.. better wipe me off the earth so I don't gotta deal with that

[@hughezzell10000]

I'm one on the other side - I'm all in for trying to survive the nuclear war. The more you learn about it, the more convinced you can become that it's survivable.

[@joshporter5205]

Hell, I was close enough when this happened to have not survived the blast.

[@WildBluntHickok]

You'll never get super powers with that attitude!

[@scottydu81]

Watch “Barefoot Gen” 😓

[@lunchworm]

You need to do a vid on the Texas city disaster. Not a nuclear blast, but one of the largest explosions ever, caused probably by a stray cigarette

[@CoobyPls]

This is actually a really good idea. I use this channel to showcase what can and will happen to you and everyone around you if you're too busy to bother paying attention.

[@neuralmute]

Wasn't there a parked pickup with the engine running right there too, as a possible source of ignition? (Great idea by the way! That one was quite the massive mishap!)

[@thebonesaw..4634]

You think Texas City was huge... check out the USS Mount Hood, which was just covered by KZbin's "The History Guy" - kzbin.info/www/bejne/m36qoJpqhq-mf9U Also, if you aren't already, you should subscribe to The History Guy.

[@ichaukan]

@@neuralmute According to the USCSB investigation there was a diesel truck idling near a "blowdown drum" that overflowed with liquid hydrocarbons. The resulting vapor cloud of volatile hydrocarbons was dense enough that when it entered the air intake of the diesel engine, it caused the engine to accelerate to the point of runaway and that was the point of ignition.

[@neuralmute]

@@ichaukan I thought I recalled reading something along those lines! Thanks for the clarification! Of course, my favourite non-nuclear historical explosion will always be closer to home, the good old Halifax Harbour explosion, which illustrates what happens when you are careless when steering around WWI munitions ships in a city harbour, and why you should duck when you hear an explosion rather than running to the window. This channel did a great video on it!

[@321COW]

I'm now interested in these broken arrow incidents

[@MaxwellBurton]

You should read the book Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety by Eric Schlosser!

[@FriedrichHecker1848]

Watch the Documentary "Command and Control" by Eric Schlosser, it is here on youtube. They talk to all the PTS guys involved in this farce at Damascus site. And they tell you how poorly those chaps were treated by the US airforce for risking their lives. Kennedy got a letter of reprimand for violating the checkbook rules, because he went into the silo alone as to not risk the live of his men. The other guys couldn't work in PTS anymore, because the Airforce didn't want them around anymore, some were dishonorably discharged. As I said this whole thing was a farce, they tried to blame what has happened on the Airmen of the PTS and the Silo Crew.

[@IdontKnow-nm8bz]

The worst part is that there is 30 odd broken arrow incidents, most of them being bombs that were lost, as in sunk to bottom of ocean, or a swamp somewhere in Florida, and that means at any moment, tons of radiation can just start spewing out into the ocean or the air, or even a possibility of one going off if it was in the right conditions for it to be preserved well enough

[@joeyknight8272]

@@IdontKnow-nm8bz wow

[@NoYouAreNotDreaming]

few of them..broken arrow stands for lost nuclear weapon..there are few still today that haven't been found. Like one that was accidentally dropped out of a bomber. Still not found... Russia has a bit more bombs missing...one was found on black market in Bulgaria

[@Spencer481]

Normally when I drop my socket wrench while working on my car there are slightly less dire consequences

[@puncheex2]

....but probably just as much cussing.

[@UFC_Buffalo]

@@puncheex2 more cussing when wrench is dropped in boat engines lol.

[@puncheex2]

@@UFC_Buffalo Entirely understandable. Admirable, even.

[@michaelgibbs8435]

He was thrown 150ft and only broke a leg. Jeeeeeeeezzz!!

[@skylerhanson101]

That's what I thought! Holy shit is that far!

[@themillera9]

Yeah I came to the comments to point this out; how in the hell is a blast that's strong enough to throw someone 150 feet not immediately fatal? I'm not saying it can't happen, but that seems improbable.

[@Berchol]

Miller Truby It obviously belongs to the realm of miracles

[@michaelgibbs8435]

I guess it depends on how high he was thrown and what he landed on too, aswell of other factors. Either way you'd assume that'd be fatal but clearly it wasn't. Crazy lucky!

[@1pcfred]

Clearly a man born to be in the Air Force.

[@Mach5Johnny]

This is such a criminally underrated channel

[@everyhandletaken]

Sure is!!

[@timesupgr.8471]

I was a fresh 2-striper in LRAFB Combat Control Team that morning. The CQ woke me up and told me to go to work. We deployed a Jeep with ATC radio pallet with an encrypted digital terminal. The tension was intense until they found the warhead. My friends who worked in the silos said 4-7 was the lemon. Everything always went bad there. What an experience for a 19 year old. When they transported the warhead, they had a special DOE security unit. SPs were support. They closed down highway 167 for miles. 167 is the primary highway from LR to NorthEastern AR. There was 10 gauge aluminum that was torn into tiny pieces like a newspaper.

[@SporkOfDestruction]

"Which is around here on a map" makes me laugh so badly I have to pause the video and my children look at me as if I've lost my mind. I needed that. Thank you!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Glad you enjoyed 😬

[@franklinneathercoat4246]

Check out the book "Command and Control" by Eric Schlosser - a detailed story about this incident and one of the best books I've ever read.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Its on my birthday list! Ive seen the documentary when it came out

[@RegebroRepairs]

@@PlainlyDifficult It's an excellent book discussing not just the accident, but the whole nuclear weapons strategy and why it was so absolutely insane, and how the safety systems were, well, not safe. That said, the book really lacks good photos, so this video is a nice complementation.

[@dylan8495]

There is a documentary on Netflix of the same name that fallows the book.

[@Hey_MikeZeroEcho22P]

'Plainly Difficult' it is a Great book to learn about other "Broken Arrow" incidents, good stuff to researceh.... Franklin Neathercoat, you took my comment, but yeah, great book!!!!

[@alexroselle]

good rec! It was also the focus of a PBS documentary episode. From that I learned that while these missiles were obsolete and unpopular because of maintenance problems, they were kept deployed longer to be available as bargaining chips in the arms-reduction talks that were going on and off through the 70's and 80's...

[@johnwatson3948]

A more accurate and detailed history than anything else on youtube. However while the Titan II is often talked about as a powerful “bunker-silo buster” - McNamara’s 1960’s notes show the lower accuracy Titan II and submarine missiles were to be used as retaliatory weapons almost entirely targeted on cities.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!

[@myview5840]

That's the thing with nukes, they don't have to be that accurate

[@backpackpepelon3867]

Scary to think MAD is the last line stopping ww3 from happening.

[@johnwatson3948]

Self preservation is a powerful incentive - in any case it was something dealt by the situation with no other workable option.

[@nottoday3817]

@@backpackpepelon3867 it is the only thing stopping it

[@thebonesaw..4634]

I was 16 when this accident happened, and lived almost exactly 40 miles from Damascus. We knew nothing of it until it was over, they never thought about warning people to evacuate the area. They just left us to our fate... and that was a real eye-opener to the people who live next to these things. For those who have never seen it, I strongly recommend the documentary "Command and Control", which tells the complete story of this incident. (trailer >>) kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHSznaBjorZsgc0

[@JamesWilliams-gv7zd]

Where'd you live?

[@kshatriya1414]

Why would they?. Only the closest to the site was in potential danger and they were evacuated.

[@thebonesaw..4634]

@@JamesWilliams-gv7zd -- Russellville

[@thebonesaw..4634]

@@kshatriya1414 -- Perhaps you missed the bit about the fact that there was a *9 MEGATON WARHEAD* on top of it (literally the largest nuclear warhead ever mounted to a U.S. missile). A warhead that was literally blown through a 2 foot thick, reinforced concrete roof on top of the silo. When the missile exploded, no one was 100% sure whether or not that warhead would go off. Yes, they have failsafes (I should know, I was a missile technician in the U.S. Navy - I worked on the Titan 1). However an explosion strong enough to completely destroy the entire missile base, and blow a 9 megaton warhead through a two foot thick, concrete roof... could theoretically override them. I recommend you watch the documentary "Command and Control", which completely covered this event. No one, including the Air Force controllers of the missile who were on site, was sure that the nuke wouldn't go off if the missile exploded. A W53- will kill every living thing for a 10 mile radius (20 mile diameter), because the fireball alone is has a 10 mile radius. Everything beyond that fireball, for another 10 miles, will more than likely die... because they're in the Thermal Radiation Zone. So, if you're above ground, it will instantly cook you (immediate 3rd degree burns). Even if you're inside a shelter, you won't be for long, because it's going to level every structure there is - so you stand a good chance of getting crushed by the debris. Even if you don't get crushed by the degree, you will receive a radiation dose so high, there's almost no chance that you will survive for more than 48 hours after the explosion. For approximately 10 more miles beyond the Thermal Radiation Zone (30 miles from ground zero), you're in the "Moderate Blast Zone". Solid structures like municipal buildings, they'll survive it just fine... but most residential structures will be leveled, and many of those structures will be set on fire (far too much for any number of fire stations to be able to handle). Fatalities in this zone is high (around 30 to 50%). Now comes the worst part of a W-53, which, believe it or not, will kill the most people. The W-53 was extremely dirty, and they caused a tremendous amount of fallout. Fallout is dependent on weather patterns but, for the first 100 miles, the fallout will expose survivors to radiation levels up to 1000 Rem per hour. If you get a dose of 600 Rem or more, you're almost assuredly going to die (almost no one survives a dosage that high or higher, and you're going to reach that level of exposure in only a little over 30 minutes). From 100 miles to about 200 miles the radiation levels are around 100 Rem per hour. Extended exposure in that area will give you a lethal dose in 5 to 6 hours. For the next 100 miles (so now we're 300 miles from ground zero, it's 10 to 20 Rem per hour... probably won't kill you (unless you're camping outside) but it will probably make you sick and increase your risk of cancer down the road. So, there you go - turns out that there was a far greater risk than only those closest to the site. See, this was the great advantage of nukes... massive amount of damage spread out over great distances. If the damned things could only take out one Damascus Arkansas at a time, they wouldn't be worth the effort.

[@kshatriya1414]

The Bonesaw .. Even though no one could be 100% certain the warhead wouldn’t go off they probably came to the conclusion that the chance of it happening is still zero to non and relocating everyone in a 40mile radius because of a unicorn sighting type chance would do much more harm than good. I don’t think the explosion of the gases could ever compress the core enough to actually set it of or make the highly involatile explosives explode and then compress the core enough to set it of especially when the silo worked as a blow of valve for the explosion. And that is probably the same conclusion the personnel at the site made. I’m not trying to shit on your expertise or anything i’m just not convinced that it would’ve been necessary to do it. It’s like forcing everyone to stay inside forever because there’s a chance a meteorite would hits and kill you in. my opinion. Oh and i will definitely check out the documentary! :).

[@mortson978]

"command and control" is a great documentary on this subject. I highly recommend it.

[@damonstr]

I saw the title and thought: "WTF were US nukes doing in Syria?!?!?!?"

[@christophersleight19]

Damascus Arkansas, Arkansas. Not Syria.

[@DerinTheErkan]

@Dylan Draper I imagine Hafez al-Assad (father of the current al-Assad) wouldn't really appreciate nukes in his country, meanwhile Turkey (which still has US nukes) was trying to be accepted as a new member of NATO

[@DerinTheErkan]

@Dylan Draper What _really_ would suck would have been placing US nukes in Shah-era Iran, though. At least F-14's can't blow up entire cities

[@CoobyPls]

The Titan 2 incident~ Great choice!

[@chazmichaelmichaels88]

My dad was called to a construction site once by his buddy to take a look at something they found in the ground. Long story short, military showed up, ordered everyone away, covered the area so you couldn't see and large military transport vehicles showed up. On the way out, the vehicles were covered. Whatever it was, it appears they forgot it was there and was a pretty big secret.

[@saragrant9749]

Military idiocy at its finest.

[@torimig2151]

It was the bomb part that didn't go off

[@collateralpigeon2151]

I saw an interview from a first-hand witness of this event. The cover to the silo was opened up in an attempt to vent some of the fuel. The expert being interviewed attributed the cover being open to the warhead not being set off. They stated if the cover to the launch tube was still closed the explosion from the rocket fuel might have provided the pressures necessary to make the fissionable material go critical regardless of whether or not the safety mechanisms worked properly.

[@kitfitzgeraldgiu4148]

PD I find your brief docs on nuclear disasters excellent commentary on complex incidents. The depth of research is incredible yet you manage to explain the complexities in a readily understandable format. I had no idea that there have been so many nuclear-based incidents over the years except for the widely publicised ones like Three Mile Island. Please keep up the great work!

[@alexroselle]

"make it rain baby" ... I LOLed Hallelujah, it's raining Minutemen!

[@jenniferbaldini3527]

Alex Roselle: Good one!! 😂

[@maxmulsanne7054]

lol

[@Shotsmoky]

Command and Control. The best doc you’ll ever see about this incident.

[@pirobot668beta]

Notice all the heckin' big springs in the background of many photos? Shock absorbers! The designers anticipated near-misses by enemy bombs, and everything was mounted a massive spring systems to prevent shock-waves in the soil from shaking the launch facility to pieces.

[@LIETUVIS10STUDIO1]

Huh, interesting.

[@ladyrazorsharp]

My dad, grandpa, and Uncle worked in construction on the Minuteman, Delta, and Titan missile sites and SLCs (shuttle launch complex) at Vandenberg AFB (now SFB) from the 60s to the 90s. I’m really glad they didn’t tell me about any of this!

[@6thsavage]

3:48 I’m shocked that this verification process seems to correspond to the significance of a launch. I’m used to hearing Cold War stories about near WW3 incidents caused by some guys dog getting an ominous horoscope or something.

[@Ksweetpea]

The channel Sub Brief has a great analysis on k-129

[@turbowolf302]

My dad was part of the 44th Missile Security Squadron up at Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota during the late 1970s. Thankfully his service was mostly uneventful, nothing even remotely close to the scale of this, but a few stories of his come to mind. Also bear in mind he guarded the Minuteman II ICBMs, not the Titan IIs. The titans are an entirely different animal to the Minutemen missiles if you know anything about 'em. His "moment of glory", if you will, if you could even call it that, was when he had to defuse a pipe bomb some anti-nuclear group placed on one of the gates leading to the missile fields. Like I said, largely uneventful, didn't go off, and according to him, when he asked the base about it years on from after he had left, the now rendered-inert pipe bomb is on display in the base museum. Supposedly. You know how old folks go. The older they get the better they were, but I digress. The other time that readily comes to mind is when someone set us up the shit-bomb inside one of the generator rooms for one of the missile silos. Yes, I said shit-bomb. His superior went down into the generator room to go check out this suspicious looking package placed underneath one of the diesel generators, and it went off. He was covered head-to-toe in human feces. In dad's own words, he "stank to high heaven", when he got out of that generator room. They made him ride back to base in the back of the truck(late 70s Dodge Power Wagon....W200 I think)in the middle of the South Dakota winter. Once again, Anti-nuclear group. In the end, dad got out of the Air Force, not because of anything serious per se. He was just sick and tired of South Dakota and wanted to be transferred ANYWHERE. AT ALL. PLEASE. But due to his specialization, the best the Air Force could offer him was six months in Guam then it's back to South Dakota. So, he just took his Honorable Discharge and went home. And to any former military from that era or stationed at Ellsworth, for the longest time Dad has been looking for a unit patch from his old unit, the 44th MSS. If anyone knows where to find one, or even better, if they have one they're willing to part with for a reasonable price.....well, it'd make an old Vet's day. And I for one would greatly appreciate it.

[@randyhavener1851]

Please give a heartfelt Thank You to your Father for his Service!! Much appreciated!

[@MrMontanaNights]

Bee H. My dad was a security forces guy with the 341st Missile Wing out of Malmstrom AFB, MT. It wasn’t bad there, better than SD I bet anyways. He did security for the Minuteman III Alert Facilities (MALF) , where his team would be on site for 4 days straight and then get 3 off and do it again. He told me stories of guys who would tie a turtle to the fence, and when the turtle crawled away pulling on the string it would trigger the fence alarm. When SF went to check it out, the turtle naturally hid in its shell, the alarm would stop, and they’d leave. Half hour later it’d go off again. The things you do when your bored I guess. I don’t know where you can get a patch for the 44th MSS, but I could make a shirt with the patch art on the front if you want.

[@SuperCleary]

The entire icbm / silo system is fascinating. More info on these and their Soviet counterparts would be awesome in a future video

[@RCAvhstape]

If you watch the Command and Control documentary there was a lot more to the story. The knuckleheads who dropped the socket delayed telling the missile commander exactly what happened for quite a while, so as he sat there watching alarms go off and tank pressures drop he was missing key information that may have allowed him to act sooner. Opening the overhead blast door and allowing the fuel fumes to dissipate may have delayed or prevented the explosion. Sgt. Kennedy and Livingston were extremely brave men who entered the complex more than once. Kennedy was pissed off because he believe he could've saved the missile if he had been allowed to act sooner. Also, when they had trouble entering the complex, they were told conflicting instructions by the higher authority located miles away at the main base, which also wasted a lot of valuable time. It's really worth it to look it up.

[@veg1run]

Yes ! Very compelling & heartbreaking ! NPR has a very good radio interview Q & A with one of the Airmen on duty during this incident.

[@SteveWright-oy8ky]

Yes, they were key in possible prevention of the explosion, but the chain of command was a failure in taking fast steps to avoid the incident !

[@paststeve1]

Was 25 yrs old when this happened and remember it well.

[@mattwood11]

I was only 5 but I remember it very well. We lived about 2 miles from the silo. I remember Army guys with guns ordering us to evacuate. The land around the site belonged to my best friend's grandfather. Made a nice cow pasture after they filled it back in.

[@chrisperry7963]

As usual, a fantastic explanation of this event, concise and clear! Thank you!

[@dicknose5846]

I thought the location was Damascus Syria, I’m smart

[@Damo2690]

Sameee I was like, wait, Syria had nukes??

[@Hey_MikeZeroEcho22P]

In the book, "Command and Control", did you miss (or maybe I missed) the nuke warhead landed up the road while Air Force techs were driving up the same road to evaluate the incident?? This happened very early morning, so they almost drove right on top of it (or would have crashed more likely)!

[@hachikiina]

one of them also mistaked a nitrogen tank for the warhead lol

[@scottydu81]

Those Air Force dudes were like “… found the nuke”

[@timesupgr.8471]

If I remember correctly, it was in the ditch.

[@michaelhurst6562]

Weight of the door < singular> covering the silo, 70 tons. Mounted on railroad tracks, one on each side. It slid open qiuckly and qiuetly.

[@seraphemcamille]

imma be honest i don’t understand why all your videos are in my recommended but im not complaining bc i love how educational these are, and theyre kinda making me want to rewatch this korean movie about a nuclear accident, if i can find it again😭

[@tommycolton4971]

We have a titan 2 silo museum here in tucson az its so much fun to go explore

[@AirLanMan]

My old hometown!

[@nobigwhoopdawg]

This is fantastic. Recommending that anyone interested read Command and Control by Eric Schlosser. The beginning details the Damascus accident in chilling detail.

[@regular-joe]

I've enjoyed all your videos, yes please, more broken arrow ones.

[@jfan4reva]

If you want to see what one looked like from the inside, there's a museum near Tucson AZ that gives tours. Their silo still holds a titan II (inoperable.) Their silo includes a warning to watch for rattlesnakes while opening surface doors. The Air Force also had other problems with wildlife. While active, there was a motion detector system that worked so well it would detect tumble weeds rolling through the compound. After adjusting the detector sensitivity, they discovered another problem. Whenever the motion detector went off, the crew had to call security who was about 45 minutes away. They did one night, and when security got there, they didn't find anybody within the fences, but they did find a full grown mountain lion resting on top of the nice warm silo door (desert days are blisteringly hot, but the nights are relatively cold.) They noted this in their log, and nothing was done about the mountain lion, as they considered it to be enhanced security.... BTW, at the time of the incident, the Air Force did NOT consider the airmen to be heroes. They were blamed for the loss of the installation. It was only some time afterwards that they were recognized for their actions to the save lives of the responders that night, and were awarded medals.

[@veg1run]

The propellant transfer teams were known to choose & educate the airmen that had very low asvab scores. Lots of these "boots", due to low IQ, were mostly dumb teenagers that would resort to alcohol & hard drugs on their time off.

[@stefanschleps8758]

I love the contrasting dichotomy of being scared shitless by that soothing British accent.

[@jkpanigel4896]

Hahahaha

[@ExperimentIV]

ahhh yes, the WILDEST broken arrow incident. thanks for making this one. i already know the details, but it’s always interesting to hear described by different people. somehow never gets boring. thanks, PD!

[@TheJamieRamone]

Considering how many BA incidents there were, u have like 2 seasons worth of videos right there! :D

[@PlainlyDifficult]

😂😂😬

[@gogetenks123]

Nice video but maybe specify Damascus AK in the title? Here I thought some major disaster happened in the Syrian capital that I was unaware of (I'm closer to that area).

[@daddycline5754]

AK = Alaska. AR = Arkansas.

[@bronwentillman8385]

(Drops wrench, falls under car) "Dammit" Other guy: "Hold my beer......."

[@shaqtaku]

What chills me is that all the crew working there were in their late teens or early twenties

[@bigcaper862]

Love when you cover topics i never even heard of. Great work as always!

[@AbsolutelyNABiL]

Very informative 👏 I particularly enjoyed the fact that it saw use all the way into *two thousand free* 🤔💭😉

[@davidburke709]

You can see a Titan II at the National Atomic Museum in Albuquerque, NM. It is a magnificent machine - as you can see in the photos of the body, it is covered in an interesting skin pattern - this was due to material being chemically-milled away from the missile skin to allow for strength while lowering weight. However, like the Atlas ICBM, the pressure from the fuel in the tanks was key to its structural stability. And hypergolic fuels don't need an ignition source: once they contact each other, they spontaneously combust. By the way, only a few years ago the last W-53 was dismantled at the Pantex facility at Amarillo, TX. It was an exceptionally dodgy job because there were few, if any, technicians around who assembled them. But, as noted, it was a hellish system, with the fuel being exceptionally lethal to anyone exposed. Hellish stuff.

[@puncheex2]

Yeah, it used 1/2" aluminum plate for the skin, milled down to a minimum of about 0.2" over 90% of the skin surface. They were rolled and then welded together in threes for the first stage. We used to walk through the manufacturing bay on our way to lunch when I worked there in the 70s.

[@DrHogfan]

I was a Freshman at University of Central Arkansas in Conway,Arkansas at that time. About 20 miles south of Damascus.

[@demonsaint1296]

You can visit one just outside of Tucson Arizona. Very interesting visit.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

That would be cool! One day Id love to go the US and go a few places!

[@playgroundchooser]

I had a Minute Man III Silo less than 2 miles from my childhood home. Kinda forgot about them honestly.

[@Racer1505]

If you get on Netflix there is a documentary called command and control about this incident. There was a book wrote about the incident also by the same name. It was wrote by the guy who wrote fast-food nation.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I saw it when it first came out its was really good!

[@andi-ih3jj]

Wow the guy even has a name: Eric Schlosser 😉

[@dodo1opps]

I was on duty (MCCC) at a Titan II site in Kansas the night this happened. We were monitoring the SAC PAS traffic out of Offutt trying to hear what we could.

[@jimmyshrimbe9361]

On a newspaper in the background I saw a grand jury Pennsylvania lottery scam and I just spent 20 minutes reading about it. One of the men arrested lived 10 miles from me haha.

[@aprilw7ancnickols31]

I have found most of your videos interesting, and I am glad you do what you are doing! Thank you for all your efforts!

[@charlesthomas7970]

00:23 stepladder casually leaned on warhead.

[@thatrandomguycommenting1261]

My grandmother told me this story. She lived in Conway Arkansas at the time. She said there was mass panic and people where leaving town thinking the bomb would detonate.

[@DuxRiser34]

I was on duty that night at SAC HQ. I was in the communications loop all night as were many others on duty monitoring the situation and working the problems as they unfolded. It was a tragedy for sure.

[@saragrant9749]

And a travesty.

[@sunnohh]

You should go on the Well there's your problem podcast

[@emileebaker8520]

Here's a fun (???) fact about the Damascus incident. Much earlier in the Titan II program there was a flash fire in a solo near Dewey, Arkansas that killed a load of local civilian workers who were doing maintenance on the launch duct-- only two managed to escape. It didn't, however, cause too much damage to the missile proper and missile 62-0006 got to stay in action. Part of readiness for the program was regular rotation of materials, including the missiles themselves. And what was the name of the rocket that blew its top that night near Damascus? 62-0006. The very same missile in place during a devastating incident at LC 373-4 was present during a second incident at LC 374-7.

[@russlehman]

Worst consequences of dropping a wrench ever.

[@f143744]

Very good explanation of events. I was stationed not far from that site, thank goodness luck was on our side that night...

[@SamanthaCoolBeans]

This is a great video. If you want to know more about this incident there’s a great book called Command and Control. It gathers all the various reports and personal accounts and retells the facts with a narrative just like one of these Plainly Difficult videos.

[@tray5083]

I’d love to see something on the Great Molasses Flood of 1919.

[@scottydu81]

Oooh a very dangerous yet tasty disaster!

[@andrewray6262]

i live 15 minutes from this cite and spend much of my summers swimming in a rock quarry next door to this old silo

[@MayBeSomething]

"Launching of the Titan II could only be ordered by the President" starting at 4:36. "And finally the ballistic belts would blow, allowing the rocket to take off" ending at 5:43. Over 1 minute to simply describe how a nuclear missile is launched. Just think how long it would take to actually do it. The president can't just push the button, and boom goes the world (thankfully).

[@ab5olut3zero95]

This was covered in an excellent Netflix documentary called Command And Control. Well worth the watch.

[@kamurray67]

You got this right. I have seen others cover this and got it wrong. I was 13 at the time and remember the event. I lived about 35 miles from the silo and had family within 10 miles.

[@patnicholsbuff3040]

I live 30 minutes from Damascus, population 307 in 1980, and had just given birth to my son shortly before the incident. Years from reliable internet, locals received evacuation orders by Air Force police. Thank you, your outstanding presentation and for acknowledging the human toll it took on our tiny rural community. More information is available at encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/titan-ii-missile-explosion-2543/

[@Jack_Dab]

>Kennedy >Survived >The curse has been broken.

[@thetreblerebel]

This was a great example of how dangerous it is just having a silo near anything

[@MrHappytikidog]

Yes I would like to see more of these broken arrow events. Netflix had a really good documentary on the events at this silo.

[@AsbestosMuffins]

"The silos wouldn't survive a direct hit but their spacing allowed for some to launch." Man that'd be the ultimate dice roll I guess

[@DanielleWhite]

I learned of this one due to "Disaster at Silo 7," a 1988 made for TV movie based on the incident. I was a bit young at the time of the incident to remember it.

[@SamHennessy]

Thank you, I remembered I'd seen a film with a plot like this as a kid but had no idea what it was called.

[@sneek14peek]

Love the history Thanks so much Also the fact that you use a snipet in your intro from one of my all time favorite pieces of work Scheherazade ..

[@unclepatrick2]

According to the book "Command and Control", one of the Officers ordered the Fan Turn on to vent the silo . Instead it set off the fumes . Both the Book and the American Experience episode they did on this event are worth finding.

[@nikriley610]

Wow. I’m an Arkansan and had no idea about this. 😮

[@Shaggyshadric]

Yes, please cover more broken arrow incidents, it’s crazy how many there have been

[@lunchworm]

Oh shit I just realized your name card thing is Scheherazade. Good taste.

[@hermeticxhaote4723]

Yup, one of the best pieces of music ever!

[@scottydu81]

For the NES?

[@lunchworm]

@@scottydu81 no its a classical piece by Rimsky Korsakov

[@scottydu81]

@@lunchworm Oh damb I thought you meant The Magic Of Scheherazade, old NES game

[@aliceosako792]

I know that these are a bit outside of your usual topic areas, but have you considered covering either the Sept. 1995 F-14 explosion incident (the plane was launching from the USS Abraham Lincoln, and performing a low-altitude, high-speed maneuver near the USS John Paul Jones when the engine exploded due to a fuel leak) or the 1994 Fairchild Airbase B-52 crash (where a crew practicing for an air show over-rotated at a low altitude and lost control)? While neither of them are major incidents (except to those directly involved, for whom they were pretty severe - while the crew of the F-14 survived with serious injuries, all of the B-52 crew were killed), they are both well-known ones due to the videos of the accidents spreading widely through the Internet as two of the first viral videos, so they may be worth discussing.

[@donaldolin4616]

My dad left the B-47 program to be a BMAT on a Titan II missile crew because he thought the B-47's were too dangerous. Circa 1963....stationed at LRAFB. We also had B-58 Hustlers there. While stationed there we saw a B-47 crash shortly after takeoff. Guess he was right about the B-47.

[@paulschab8152]

The B47 was a great looking plane, but yes, it had problems...

[@MarkusxJxKeetz]

Ohhhhhhhh This is a good topic! I watched an American PBS episode on this before! Fun fact: the reason why we have a lot underground launch areas in the middle of the US? It’s more flatter. Kansas and Oklahoma have a few, as does Nebraska, and North and South Dakotas.

[@fixman88]

Guam has a few. Yes, really.

[@AmandaLPaige]

Loved this as I was 8 and living in Little Rock when it happened

[@kjamison5951]

[as Travolta] “Stop igniting aerozine under the thermonuclear warhead!”

[@Padoinky]

If I recall, from the in-depth recounting of this story in the novel that was released maybe 10 yrs ago, the military, after awarding medals to those noted, subsequently went after some of those same crew members

[@thesuccmaster]

I live 15 minutes from Damascus. At the time of this accident my mother lived not even 12 miles away from the silo.

[@gyromurphy]

Can you imagine... CAN YOU IMAGINE walking into that facility knowing it's full of rocket fuel ready to explode at any moment?! Also... Did you say something that weighed a lot of tons flew 200 ft in the air? Man o man would I have loved to see that. I'd be traumatized by the over all experience for sure, but I feel it'd be worth it. Great subject and great presentation as always.

[@hachikiina]

they were volunteers too!

[@markclark1654]

That’s grossly oversimplifying things. We came to the site, pulled our alert and went home, 8 times a month, week in and week out. Titan was a safe weapon system for the most part, and we honestly didn’t spend time worrying about it, just making sure we complied with safety standards. Major Mark Clark, USAFR (Ret), former senior crew deputy at MAFB and LRAFB.

[@scotttait2197]

Coincidentally, the missile that was in the launch duct in the 1965 incidemt that killed 53 workers (serial number 62-0006), was the same missile that later exploded in Launch Complex 374-7 in Southside (Van Buren County) just north of Damascus (Van Buren and Faulkner counties) on September 19, 1980

[@Dondo_Golden_Rose]

Thanks Reagan. Really pulling an SCP foundation right there

[@arguy_4420]

Hey I live about 30 miles from the site. All that remains of it now is some concrete slabs in a field, and a memorial plaque

[@Draxindustries1]

740ton door gets blown off and lands 600ft away. Unbelievably powerful (non nuclear) explosion. Greeting from Russia... ❤️

[@pieguy311]

After watching a few of these it seems the easiest way I can prevent a nukelear disaster is to use the correct tools

[@goldenpun5592]

*looks at padlocks on red box* *thinking* Lockpicking Lawyer could pick those in less than a minute.

[@randyhavener1851]

Well done! Please show us more!!! Thank you very much!

[@MakeItWithCalvin]

American Experience did an incredibly good job making a documentary on it and this was just as good. It is crazy all that happened because of a tool dropped...

[@qwopiretyu]

Dude was thrown 150 feet by a rocket fuel blast and only broke his leg? What a story to tell the grandkids

[@DouglasK]

I'd love to see more broken arrow events

[@boopage9597]

It should be noted that the two men who were originally looking after the missile when the accident happen were VERY YOUNG, this happened when they got out of High School a couple years or so after they graduated. Then the guy who accidentally dropped the tool was FINED AND CHARGED AS A CRIMINAL- over an accident.

[@SteveWright-oy8ky]

It was this young fellow's failure to get the CORRECT TORQUE WRENCH after he realize he FORGOT TO CHECK LIST THE TOOLS needed for that job. His FAILURE to go back and get the RIGHT TOOL for the job , was the CAUSE for the event ! Read about the airman who used a SCREWDRIVER to remove a fuse, rather than get the RIGHT TOOL for the job, and caused another nuclear BROKEN ARROW ! Laziness, Complacency, Lack of Danger Awareness, etc all created these events, ... the HUMAN FACTOR !

[@buddyclatone9632]

The power this thing (the warhead) had is seriously understated here. Its been said that it was 3 time more powerful than ALL the explosives used in WWII, including both devices dropped on japan and that life threatening burns would be caused up to 20 miles away.