September 19, 1980

During a routine maintenance in a Titan II silo, an Air Force repairman dropped a heavy wrench socket, which rolled off a work platform and fell toward the bottom of the silo. The socket bounced and struck the missile, causing a leak from a pressurized fuel tank. The missile complex and the surrounding area were evacuated and a team of specialists was called in from Little Rock Air Force Base, the missile's main support base.  About 8 1/2 hours after initial puncture, fuel vapors within the silo ignited and exploded. The explosion fatally injured one member of the team. Twenty-one other USAF personnel were injured. The missile's reentry vehicle, which contained a nuclear warhead, was recovered intact. There was no radioactive contamination. According to the Center for Defense Information(CDI): The explosion of volatile fuel blew off the 740 ton silo door of reinforced concrete and steel and catapulted the warhead 600 feet. It is estimated that Titan II ICBMs carry a 9 megaton warhead.
 
Why accidents are happening and where:

The Office of Technology Assessment study estimated that a 9 megaton air burst on Leningrad would result in 2.4 million fatalities and 1.1 million injuries. With age, the seals on the missiles are corroding, increasing the number of leaks. The worst missile accident occurred in Searcy, Arkansas on August 9, 1965, when a fire in a Titan II silo killed 53. The Air Force has disclosed that between 1975 and 1979 there have been 125 accidents at Titan sites in Arkansas, Arizona and Kansas. From March 1979 to September 1980 there were ten other leaks and accidents at Arkansas Titan sites. On August 24, 1978 at a Titan sit in Rock, Kansas, two airmen were killed and thirty others injured when they were exposed to deadly oxidizer gas. The silo at Damascus, Arkansas will be filled in with gravel while that at Rock, Kansas is being refurbished and is planned to be operational in September 1982.