The Damascus Titan missile explosion (also called the Damascus accident) was a 1980 U.S. nuclear weapons incident involving a

Titan II The Titan II was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the Glenn L. Martin Company from the earlier Titan I missile. Titan II was originally designed and used as an ICBM, but was later adapted as a medium-lift space l ...

Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). The incident occurred on September 18–19, 1980, at Missile Complex 374-7 in rural

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

when a

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

LGM-25C Titan II The Titan II was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the Glenn L. Martin Company from the earlier Titan I missile. Titan II was originally designed and used as an ICBM, but was later adapted as a medium-lift space l ...

ICBM An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons ...

loaded with a 9 megaton W-53 Nuclear Warhead had a liquid fuel explosion inside its

silo A silo (from the Greek σιρός – ''siros'', "pit for holding grain") is a structure for storing bulk materials. Silos are used in agriculture to store fermented feed known as silage, not to be confused with a grain bin, which is use ...

. The incident began with a fuel leak at on September 18, and culminated with the explosion at around on September 19, ejecting the warhead from its silo. The warhead landed a short distance away and no radioactive material was lost. 308th SMW Titan II Missile Sites

Launch complex

Launch Complex 374-7 was located in Bradley Township, Van Buren County farmland just 3.3 miles (5.3 km) NNE of

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

, and approximately north of

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

. The

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...

facility of

Little Rock Air Force Base Little Rock Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately northeast of Little Rock, Arkansas. Little Rock AFB is the primary C-130 Hercules training base for the Department of Defense, training C-130 pilots, naviga ...

was one of eighteen silos in the command of the

308th Strategic Missile Wing 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

(308th SMW), specifically one of the nine silos within its 374th Strategic Missile Squadron (374th SMS), at the time of the explosion.

Incident

Leadup

At around CDT on Thursday, September 18, 1980, two airmen from a Propellant Transfer System (PTS) team were checking the pressure on the

oxidizer An oxidizing agent (also known as an oxidant, oxidizer, electron recipient, or electron acceptor) is a substance in a redox chemical reaction that gains or " accepts"/"receives" an electron from a (called the , , or ). In other words, an oxi ...

tank of a USAF

Titan II missile The Titan II was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the Glenn L. Martin Company from the earlier Titan I missile. Titan II was originally designed and used as an ICBM, but was later adapted as a medium-lift space l ...

at Little Rock AFB's Launch Complex 374-7. One of the workers, Airman David P. Powell, had brought a

ratchet wrench A socket wrench (or socket spanner) is a type of spanner (or wrench in North American English) that uses a closed ''socket'' format, rather than a typical open wrench/spanner to turn a fastener, typically in the form of a nut or bolt. The mos ...

– long weighing – into the silo instead of a

torque wrench A torque wrench is a tool used to apply a specific torque to a fastener such as a nut, bolt, or lag screw. It is usually in the form of a socket wrench with an indicating scale, or an internal mechanism which will indicate (as by 'clicking', a ...

, the latter having been newly mandated by Air Force regulations. Powell later claimed that he was already below ground in his safety suit when he realized he had brought the wrong wrench, so he chose to continue rather than turn back. The socket fell off the ratchet and dropped approximately before bouncing off a thrust mount and piercing the missile's skin over the first-stage fuel tank, causing it to leak a cloud of its

aerozine 50 __NOTOC__ Aerozine 50 is a 50:50 mix by weight of hydrazine and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH), originally developed in the late 1950s by Aerojet General Corporation as a storable, high-energy, hypergolic fuel for the Titan II ICBM rocket e ...

fuel. Aerozine 50 is

hypergolic A hypergolic propellant is a rocket propellant combination used in a rocket engine, whose components spontaneously ignite when they come into contact with each other. The two propellant components usually consist of a fuel and an oxidizer. T ...

with the Titan II's oxidizer,

dinitrogen tetroxide Dinitrogen tetroxide, commonly referred to as nitrogen tetroxide (NTO), and occasionally (usually among ex-USSR/Russia rocket engineers) as amyl, is the chemical compound N2O4. It is a useful reagent in chemical synthesis. It forms an equilibrium ...

, such that they spontaneously ignite upon contact with each other. The nitrogen tetroxide is kept in a second tank in the rocket's first stage, directly above the fuel tank and below the second stage and its nine-megaton W-53 nuclear warhead. Eventually, the missile combat crew and the PTS team evacuated the launch control center, while military and civilian response teams arrived to tackle the hazardous situation. Lieutenant General Lloyd R. Leavitt Jr., the Vice Commander of the

, commanded the effort to save the launch complex. There was concern for the possible collapse of the now empty first-stage fuel tank, which could cause the rest of the 8-story missile to fall and rupture, allowing the oxidizer to contact the fuel already in the silo.

Explosion

Early in the morning of Friday, September 19, a two-man PTS investigation team consisting of Senior Airman David Lee Livingston and

Sergeant Sergeant ( abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other ...

Jeff K. Kennedy entered the silo. Because their vapor detectors indicated an explosive atmosphere, the two were ordered to evacuate. The team was then ordered to reenter the silo to turn on an exhaust fan. Livingston reentered the silo to carry out the order and shortly thereafter, at about , the

hypergolic fuel A hypergolic propellant is a rocket propellant combination used in a rocket engine, whose components spontaneously ignite when they come into contact with each other. The two propellant components usually consist of a fuel and an oxidizer. The ...

exploded – likely due to arcing in the exhaust fan. The initial explosion catapulted the 740-ton silo door away from the silo and ejected the second stage and warhead. Once clear of the silo, the second stage exploded. The W53

thermonuclear Thermonuclear fusion is the process of atomic nuclei combining or “fusing” using high temperatures to drive them close enough together for this to become possible. There are two forms of thermonuclear fusion: ''uncontrolled'', in which the re ...

warhead landed about from the launch complex's entry gate. Its safety features prevented any loss of radioactive material or nuclear detonation.

Aftermath

Livingston died at the hospital, and 21 others in the immediate vicinity of the blast sustained various injuries; Kennedy struggled with respiratory issues from inhaling oxidizer but survived. Livingston was posthumously promoted to

staff sergeant Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administrative, superv ...

. The entire missile launch complex was destroyed. At daybreak, the Air Force retrieved the warhead, which was returned to the

Pantex Pantex is the primary United States nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility that aims to maintain the safety, security and reliability of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. The facility is located in the Panhandle of Texas on a site ...

weapons assembly plant. The launch complex was never repaired. Pieces of debris were taken away from the surrounding the facility, and the site was buried under a mound of gravel, soil, and small concrete debris. The land is now under private ownership. The site was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on February 18, 2000. Kennedy, initially praised as a hero, later received an official letter of reprimand for his first entry into the complex, as it later transpired that he had disregarded an order to stay away.

Popular culture

A 1988

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

, ''

Disaster at Silo 7 ''Disaster at Silo 7'' is a 1988 American made-for-television thriller-drama film directed by Larry Elikann. It is loosely based on the 1980 Damascus Titan missile explosion. Plot During routine maintenance of a liquid-fuelled ICBM, the fuel ...

'', is based on this event. Season 4, episode 4 (ep. 75) of ''

Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always en ...

'' is largely based on this event. In September 2013,

Eric Schlosser Eric Matthew Schlosser (born August 17, 1959) is an American journalist and author known for his investigative journalism, such as in his books ''Fast Food Nation'' (2001), '' Reefer Madness'' (2003), and '' Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, ...

published a book titled '' Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety''. It focused on the explosion, as well as other Broken Arrow incidents during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

. A documentary film titled ''Command and Control'' from director

Robert Kenner Robert Kenner is an American film and television director, producer, and writer. Kenner is best known for directing the film ''Food, Inc''. as well as the films, ''Command and Control'', '' Merchants of Doubt'', and ''When Strangers Click''. K ...

, based on Schlosser's book, was released on January 10, 2017. The film was broadcast by PBS as part of its ''

American Experience ''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...

'' series. Jeff Plumb's account of his role in the incident was featured in a 2017 episode of

WBEZ WBEZ (91.5 FM) – branded ''WBEZ 91.5'' – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, and primarily serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Financed by corporate underwriting, government funding and li ...

's ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internati ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1980 Damascus, Arkansas incident 1980 disasters in the United States 1980 in military history Military nuclear accidents and incidents History of Arkansas 1980 in Arkansas National Register of Historic Places in Van Buren County, Arkansas September 1980 events in the United States Nuclear accidents and incidents in the United States Explosions in 1980 Van Buren County, Arkansas