This isn't gonna be good...

[belowme29]

In my day, they were the Rocket Fuel Handler's Clothing Outfit, or "RFHCO", pronounced refco. I started my USAF career as a Titan II ICBM Propellant Transfer Specialist. Rocket fuel was nasty stuff. A guy in the shop where I worked dropped a socket that punched a hole in a Titan II, once. Here are some photos of what the silo looked like from above before and after . . . View attachment 81357View attachment 81358

I'm confused - the after picture was taken after what happened? I see that it says exploded silo on the picture name - what made the Titan rocket explode?

 

[Dan McNally]

This brings back many memories . . . In October of 2013, we held the first Titan II PTS Reunion in Little Rock, Arkansas, and visited the Titan II monument at the base . . . some of us also went down to the Senior Airman David A. Livingston Building, the building at the base where the now defunct 308 Missile Inspection and Maintenance Squadron was once housed, just to sit and think of days passed, and friends lost.
Titan II Launch Complex 374-7, just north of Damascus, Arkansas, became the site of the most highly publicized disaster in the history of the Titan II program when its missile exploded within the launch duct on September 19, 1980. Senior Airman David Livingston was killed, and the complex was destroyed. Complex 374-7 had already been the site of one significant accident on January 27, 1978, when an oxidizer leak sent a cloud of toxic fumes 3,000 feet long, 300 feet wide, and 100 feet high drifting across U.S. Highway 65. Civilians were evacuated from the area, and four people suffered some ill effects from contact with the vapors. The leak was quickly repaired.
On September 18, 1980, at about 6:30 p.m., an airman conducting maintenance on the Titan II missile dropped a wrench socket, which fell about eighty feet before hitting and piercing the skin on the rocket’s first-stage fuel tank, causing it to leak. Around 9:00 p.m., the Air Force personnel manning the site were evacuated. About one hour later, Air Force security police began evacuating nearby civilian residents as efforts continued to determine the status of the missile and the fuel leak.
Dave Livingston and Sgt Jeff Kennedy entered the launch complex early on the morning of September 19 to get readings of airborne fuel concentrations, which they found to be at their maximum. At about 3:00 a.m., the two men returned to the surface to await further instructions. As they were leaving, they were told to turn on the ventilation fan in the access portal, the entrance to the silo from the surface. SA Lingingston, did as ordered, just as they were departing the silo. Just as they sat down on the concrete edge of the access portal, the missile exploded, blowing the 740-ton launch duct closure door 200 feet into the air and some 600 feet northeast of the launch complex. The W-53 nuclear warhead landed about 100 feet from the launch complex’s entry gate; its safety features operated correctly and prevented any loss of radioactive material. Kennedy, his leg broken, was blown 150 feet from the silo. Livingston lay amid the rubble of the launch duct for some time before security personnel located and evacuated him. Livingston died of his injuries that day. Twenty-one people were injured by the explosion or during rescue efforts.
Six Air Force servicemen, including Livingston and Kennedy, were awarded Airman’s Medals for Heroism for their actions on September 19, 1980.

 

[belowme29]

This brings back many memories . . . In October of 2013, we held the first Titan II PTS Reunion in Little Rock, Arkansas, and visited the Titan II monument at the base . . . some of us also went down to the Senior Airman David A. Livingston Building, the building at the base where the now defunct 308 Missile Inspection and Maintenance Squadron was once housed, just to sit and think of days passed, and friends lost.
Titan II Launch Complex 374-7, just north of Damascus, Arkansas, became the site of the most highly publicized disaster in the history of the Titan II program when its missile exploded within the launch duct on September 19, 1980. Senior Airman David Livingston was killed, and the complex was destroyed. Complex 374-7 had already been the site of one significant accident on January 27, 1978, when an oxidizer leak sent a cloud of toxic fumes 3,000 feet long, 300 feet wide, and 100 feet high drifting across U.S. Highway 65. Civilians were evacuated from the area, and four people suffered some ill effects from contact with the vapors. The leak was quickly repaired.
On September 18, 1980, at about 6:30 p.m., an airman conducting maintenance on the Titan II missile dropped a wrench socket, which fell about eighty feet before hitting and piercing the skin on the rocket’s first-stage fuel tank, causing it to leak. Around 9:00 p.m., the Air Force personnel manning the site were evacuated. About one hour later, Air Force security police began evacuating nearby civilian residents as efforts continued to determine the status of the missile and the fuel leak.
Dave Livingston and Sgt Jeff Kennedy entered the launch complex early on the morning of September 19 to get readings of airborne fuel concentrations, which they found to be at their maximum. At about 3:00 a.m., the two men returned to the surface to await further instructions. As they were leaving, they were told to turn on the ventilation fan in the access portal, the entrance to the silo from the surface. SA Lingingston, did as ordered, just as they were departing the silo. Just as they sat down on the concrete edge of the access portal, the missile exploded, blowing the 740-ton launch duct closure door 200 feet into the air and some 600 feet northeast of the launch complex. The W-53 nuclear warhead landed about 100 feet from the launch complex’s entry gate; its safety features operated correctly and prevented any loss of radioactive material. Kennedy, his leg broken, was blown 150 feet from the silo. Livingston lay amid the rubble of the launch duct for some time before security personnel located and evacuated him. Livingston died of his injuries that day. Twenty-one people were injured by the explosion or during rescue efforts.
Six Air Force servicemen, including Livingston and Kennedy, were awarded Airman’s Medals for Heroism for their actions on September 19, 1980.

WOW!! I did not know this - thank you for sharing the details. Unreal what a dropped wrench socket can do to a missile and the silo that it was sitting in.

 

[Bob Denman]

Double-WOW!! :yikes:

 

[bruiser]

I was in England when that happened. A week later we had a memorial service for SA Livingston. As I said in an earlier post, rocket fuels, or more correctly, propellants, are extremely unstable.

Remember the PEPCON Explosion in 1988?

 

[Dan McNally]

The truly amazing thing about the Titan II was that the USAF let us 18 to 22 year old kids play with rocket fuel, oxidizer (fuming red nitric acid when not kept pressurized) and liquid nitrogen with precious little adult supervision . . . and so few of us died while doing it . . . nojoke

 

[Bob Denman]

:bowdown: You guys managed to do some amazing things! :thumbup:

 

[bruiser]

It is amazing to think of some of the stuff we did while on active duty, and that some of us are still here. The sad thing is...some of that stuff is catching up to us. Illnesses and injuries that the typical civilian population doesn't experience.

 

[Dan McNally]

:bowdown: You guys managed to do some amazing things! :thumbup:

Bob, at the time, it was just the job we were given . . . although it was exciting, sometimes!

It is amazing to think of some of the stuff we did while on active duty, and that some of us are still here. The sad thing is...some of that stuff is catching up to us. Illnesses and injuries that the typical civilian population doesn't experience.

Bruiser . . . you got that right . . . we held a reunion in Little Rock in October, and like any old farts, we drank to excess and discussed medical problems . . . this group has some weird ones! At any given time, there was just over 100 people in the career field and we got 60 together, including my first boss, who is 80, today . . . a book, "Command and Control", by Eric Schlosser, released in 2013 described the PTS guys as: "The PTS guys were a different breed. Outside of work they had a reputation for being rowdy and wild. They had one of the most dangerous jobs in the Air Force - and at the end of the day they liked to blow off steam, drinking and partying harder than just about anyone else at the base. They were more likely to ride motorcycles, ignore speed limits, violate curfews, and toss a commanding officer into a shower, fully clothed, after consuming too much alcohol." He pretty much nailed us! Those of us that are still around are feeling the effects of that life!

 

[Dan_Ashley]

Bob, those are called S.C.A.P.E. suits. Self Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble. The one pictured is an older version. They're used by NASA and the military when fueling rockets. Since rocket fuels are highly unstable, corrosive and poisonous, these suits must be worn. Some chemical manufacturers use them as well. Especially around anhydrous materials. Kris said she needs one. I have no idea why. :dontknow:

Can I get a used one for ryding? I think it would look great at a HD biker bar.