http://www.shreveporttimes.com...GNEWS
By John Andrew Prime
jprime@gannett.com
Problems with a bomb release system are likely behind the accidental release of nine practice bombs into a Kansas lake Wednesday, the commander of the 2nd Bomb Wing said today.
"While the details surrounding yesterdayÂs incident are still under investigation, I can say that our aircrew experienced a problem with the bomb release system while on a practice bombing run," 2nd Bomb Wing commander Col. Daniel Charchian said. "The results of the investigation will be released when they become available."
Charchian said one of the wing's B-52H bombers on a routine training mission "inadvertently dropped nine inert BDU-50 weapons outside the Smoky Hill Air National Guard Range in Salina, Kansas."
The training weapons, which contained no explosives, were dropped on part of the Kanopolis State Park, which is adjacent to the bomb range, he said.
Charchian noted the nonstop training crews undergo and said "this incident is very rare and we will take the appropriate steps to ensure that a similar incident does not occur again in the future."
The Kansas City Star reported Thursday that all the bombs fell into Kanopolis Lake. That's in Ellsworth County, Kan., in the central part of the state north of Wichita.
"I just saw them, when they hit, it was four splashes pretty much at the same time," 16-year-old Corey Armstrong of Salina, who was swimming with some friends, told the paper. "The bomber started flying in circles after that."
Lt. Col. Jeff Jordan, commander of the nearby Smoky Hill National Guard Range, told the paper all the bombs apparently hit the water and didn't pose a continuing threat to the public.
Incidents such as this are rare with Barksdale aircraft, especially since the first B-52s arrived here in the late 1950s, but they do occur.
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Would have been cool to watch though 
