BENT ARROW, WHAT REALLY HAPPENED ON AUG. 29

MIS-STEPS

It turns out that the B-52 that flew from Minot AFB with nuclear missiles was supposed to be carrying some obsolete missiles to be destroyed. The problems began at the storage locker where conventional missiles were stored with nuclear ones. The second was that the ordinance handlers didn't notice the nuclear labels on half the missiles the pulled to be loaded or even during the loading process. The pilot made the mistake of signing off on everything without doing a "walk around" which most pilots do, to check if the missiles are secured, check for any damage to the plane and if its clear to move it.

It took almost 24hrs before the mistakes were noticed.