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Report: Crew at fault in errant bomb release

Human error caused the botched release of a 500-pound laser-guided bomb last year, which sparked a massive forest fire, according to a Navy investigation.

The GBU-12 Paveway II was dropped by a Super Hornet on May 13, 2008, in Ocala National Forest, Fla. The bomb was intended for the Pinecastle Impact Range but the pilot and weapons system officer released the bomb in the wrong mode and with an incorrect fuse setting, according to the Judge Advocate General Manual investigation. The details of the weapons-related error were redacted from the JAGMan report. The names of the officers, from Strike Fighter Squadron 213, were not released.

Fatigue may have been a factor in the incident. The weapons officer was in violation of the squadron’s rules requiring 10 hours off and eight hours of sleep in between workdays, according to the report.

The WSO had landed on the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt the night before around 10 p.m., signed off a couple of hours later and went to eat before going to bed around 2 a.m. He received a call shortly after 9 a.m. from an officer saying he was late for a flight brief.

“I started drinking coffee to wake up. I felt a little sluggish, but once I got in the jet I felt ready for the mission,” the officer said during the investigation.

The pilot said in hindsight he knew something was amiss because moments before the bomb release, he saw “weird symbiology” in his cockpit display. But he was reluctant to abort the mission.

The investigation also found the officers did not complete their air-to-ground checklist before the weapons release, according to the report.

Both the pilot and WSO went before a Field Naval Aviators Evaluation Board, but both were later returned to duty.

Investigators recommended that VFA-213 ensure that flight schedules allow for adequate crew rest and encourage pilots to tell the squadron duty officer if they are not sufficiently rested, and that it place renewed emphasis on conducting air-to-ground checklists.

The bomb started a fire that burned for 12 days and cost nearly $350,000 to put out, according to federal authorities.