The Damascus Titan II Nuclear Missle Accident

[CFDFEAGURU]

So, I bought a copy of "Command and Control" and I found out that a made for TV movie about this incident called "Disaster at Silo 7" came out on VHS format and is pretty hard to find. Amazon had 4 copies but 40 dollars for a pretty old VHS tape that probably has low quality is not something I want to buy.

Have you ever seen this movie? I was almost 3 years old when this event happened...

 

[mheslep]

Good friend of mine was a launch officer in the Arkansas Titan II silos starting the year after the accident. He tells the story just as it is written up on Wiki.

 

[edward]

So, I bought a copy of "Command and Control" and I found out that a made for TV movie about this incident called "Disaster at Silo 7" came out on VHS format and is pretty hard to find. Amazon had 4 copies but 40 dollars for a pretty old VHS tape that probably has low quality is not something I want to buy.

Have you ever seen this movie? I was almost 3 years old when this event happened...

The movie is only loosely based on reality. Since I had had a lot of experience with the Titan II I found it a bit too loosely based. This was primarily for dramatic effect. For instance in the movie two airmen in Scape (self contained atmospheric pressurized environment) suits were told to return into the silo to turn on an exhaust fan. That never would have happened. Whenever a leak was detected by sensors the fan would go into full purge configuration automatically.

It was a leak in the fuel tank that allowed the Hydrazine fumes to build up.

The event that took the most lives in a Titian II silo also happened in Arkansas in August 1965. A fire started when a welder accidentally burned a hole in a hydraulic line. The hydraulic fluid and flushing agents were supposed to have been non flammable. At the time we were told the death toll was 67. The article below states 50. The primary cause of death was CO poisoning.

http://www.techbastard.com/missile/titan2/accident_373-4.php

The men were found wearing gas masks which can not stop CO. The launch duct was sealed from the outer equipment area and from the CO. There was also an air duct that ran from the control center end of the cableway to the bottom of the launch duct which could have provided fresh air. With the exception of the welder, no one needed to die that day.