Pentagon Says B-52 Mistakenly Carried Nukes

A U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber was mistakenly loaded with six nuclear warheads and flown for more than three hours across the continental U.S., prompting an official investigation and the firing of one commander, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.

The Cold War-era strategic bomber was carrying Advanced Cruise Missiles from Minot Air Force Base, N.D, to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Aug. 30, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a Defense Department policy not to confirm information on nuclear weapons.

However, the mistake was not discovered until the B-52 landed at Barskdale, which left the warheads unaccounted for during the approximately 3-1/2 hour flight between the two bases, the officers said.

The Military Times quoted Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Ed Thomas as saying the weapons were safely under Air Force control at all times.

"The Air Force takes its mission to safeguard weapons seriously," the Times quoted Thomas as saying. "No effort will be spared to ensure that the matter is thoroughly and completely investigated."

An investigation headed by Maj. Gen. Douglas Raaberg, director of Air and Space Operations at Air Combat Command Headquarters, was launched immediately to find the cause of the mistake and figure out how it could have been prevented, Thomas said, according to the Times

The Air Combat Command has ordered a command-wide stand down on Sept. 14 to review procedures, officials said. They said there was minimal risk to crews and the public because of safety features designed into the munitions.

The missiles, which are being decommissioned, were mounted onto pylons on the bomber's wings and it is unclear why the warheads had not been removed beforehand.

In addition to the munitions squadron commander who was relieved of his duties, crews involved with the mistaken load – including ground crew workers - have been temporarily decertified for handling munitions, one official said.

From NPR reports and The Associated Press