Truck crashes while carrying 16 missles

[Peartree]

ISP confirms crashed truck that closed down I-90 was carrying missiles
The crash caused the highway to be closed for several hours on Friday.​

POST FALLS, Idaho — Update: A previous version of this article had a different name and age listed as the driver of the semi truck. The ISP issued a correction to their earlier press release at 3:52 p.m. on Saturday, and the article has been updated accordingly.

The semi truck that crashed on Friday evening that caused I-90 to close for several hours was carrying missiles at the time of the incident.

The Idaho State Police announced in a press release that a 2016 Volvo semi truck carrying 16 missiles weighing 2,000 pounds each crashed on I-90 near milepost 8, which is near the Huetter rest area.

The truck, driven by 47-year-old Mark Dearinger of Chickasha, Okla., was traveling eastbound when he accidentally drove into the hazmat containment area of the port of entry instead of the interstate on ramp. The truck ended up driving into a snow bank, and Dearinger received a citation for inattentive driving, according to the release.

There were no injuries caused by the accident, according to the release.

The ISP tweeted at 9:54 p.m. on Friday that I-90 had reopened after being closed for several hours due to an undisclosed incident at a rest stop.

The ISP shut down each direction of I-90 between exit 5 and exit 12 because of an incident at a rest stop..

KREM has reached out to ISP to find out exactly what was going on at the rest stop but was told they would send a press release when they had more information.

Travis Edwards with Fairchild Air Force Public Affairs said civil engineers from the base were headed to the scene. He did not offer any other details as to why the crew may be headed there.

Original article here:
https://www.krem.com/article/news/l...KhS1o_lF5ofkxTA8YgyK18Aq1k7tCcupW25rkdWXAz2gI

 

[K'Tesh]

I'm wondering what missiles those would be... Certainly not AIM-9s, they weigh less than 200lbs each. Three of us would have to lift those, by hand, overhead, to slide them into the launch rail when we were loading them. If you had a short crewmember, or the plane didn't have a load of fuel aboard, loading them was a real PITA.

Fortunately, once practice AIM-9s (no motors or warheads) were loaded on the jets I worked on, they'd typically stay there for a very long time. I only had to load them on a handful of occasions (usually in the loadbarn).

 

[Hey Nike]

My guess is he was headed to Everett Naval Station, just north of Seattle. There are two guided missile destroyers based there (USS Momsen and USS Shoup) each armed with RIM-66, RUM-139 ASROCs and BGM-109 Tomahawks. Mark 84 bombs also weight about 2,000 pounds, and that would have made sense when Fairchild AFB was home to B-52s. Fairchild is now an air refueling wing.

 

[K'Tesh]

Even if Fairchild was still home to BUFFs, the news report would have said bombs in referring to MK-84s, they're just dumb iron bombs, not missiles. Even with JDAMs, they're still bombs.

Tomahawks are nearly 3000lbs
I couldn't find info on the mass of the RUM-139s
RIM-66s are about 1500lbs each.

 

[solid_fuel]

Even if Fairchild was still home to BUFFs, the news report would have said bombs in referring to MK-84s, they're just dumb iron bombs, not missiles. Even with JDAMs, they're still bombs.

Yes because the news always knows

 

[Scottrod]

The way the news is it could have been a truck load of telephone poles.

 

[Hey Nike]

Even if Fairchild was still home to BUFFs, the news report would have said bombs in referring to MK-84s, they're just dumb iron bombs, not missiles. Even with JDAMs, they're still bombs.

Tomahawks are nearly 3000lbs
I couldn't find info on the mass of the RUM-139s
RIM-66s are about 1500lbs each.

Having spent the better part of my life in broadcast journalism, and explaining to producers and reporters the difference between howitzers and field guns, that F-15s and F-16s cannot land on carriers, and that any large gray boat with armament is not necessarily a "battleship", there is a great chance they don't know bombs from missiles.

 

[Nytrunner]

Round point finned things painted army green?

Obviously missiles

 

[boatgeek]

Heading eastbound in Idaho wouldn’t be headed to Everett or to the firing ranges outside Yakima. 1500 lbs loaded weight is close enough to 2000 that RIM-66 is believable once you add crates and packing on each missile.

 

[Steve Shannon]

Heading eastbound in Idaho wouldn’t be headed to Everett or to the firing ranges outside Yakima. 1500 lbs loaded weight is close enough to 2000 that RIM-66 is believable once you add crates and packing on each missile.

I90 eastbound from western Idaho could lead to Mountain Home AFB in Idaho (assuming a right turn off I90 at Coeur d’Alene), Malmstrom in Montana, or Hill AFB in Utah. Or Minot AFB in North Dakota. Those would be closest I think.

 

[Marc_G]

Surprised the news didn't say the closure was due to model rockets...

 

[K'Tesh]

Round point finned things painted army green?

Obviously missiles

Ya know... you guys have a point... However, Nytrunner's incorrect I think... Round pointy finned things painted army green would be...

NUKES

True story... Just outside of the fence at RAF Upper Heyford, UK, where I was stationed, there was a "Peace Camp". One night a couple of the campers cut the fence, crawled through, and made there way into a shelter near their encampment. They bashed one of our jet's cockpits, splashed it with red paint (symbolizing blood), and then played merry hell with a couple of "nukes" they claimed.

As there were no nukes loaded on said aircraft, it was amazing the damage they did to those drop tanks. I was told that the crew chief of the aircraft involved wanted to see the guys on the top of the wings "have a little accident".

 

[Hey Nike]

Heading eastbound in Idaho wouldn’t be headed to Everett or to the firing ranges outside Yakima. 1500 lbs loaded weight is close enough to 2000 that RIM-66 is believable once you add crates and packing on each missile.

Oops. Missed the eastbound reference...

 

[Bat-mite]

No, no, no. It was just Tom Cohen bringing his fleet to a launch.

 

[Bryan S Snyder]

Plot twist.

Was actually a box of Estes Mini mosquitos and the weight was 200 grams each.

 

[boatgeek]

Positing from the direction that it was a truckload of USAF missiles, assuming that it was really missiles and not bombs*, and going to the Wikipedia entry on current USAF munitions to look for things in the 1500-2500-lb range, I'd guess AGM-130 or AGM-158. Air to air missiles aren't heavy enough to make sense, and the other AGMs are either too heavy or too light.

Also, re-reading the original article, "crashed" seems like a little bit of a strong term. The driver drove into a snowbank after taking a wrong turn at a rest area. Not good, but a far cry from a collision/jackknife/overturning at highway speed.

* Possibly giving the news crews too much credit. I do think the weight per was probably right, because that seems too detailed for error.

 

[Nytrunner]

(for any uncertain, my post was complete sarcasm)

, it was amazing the damage they did to those drop tanks.

Now that's funny

 

[Rockyt]

Round point finned things painted army green?

Obviously missiles

OOOHHHHH.....

So, then...it's actually 'green piece'

Hey, I thought it was funny.

 

[boatgeek]

Seattle Times says today that they were 2000-lb bombs made safe for transport. Apparently, the Idaho State Patrol called them missiles in their initial reports and the news reported that misidentification.

 

[Bat-mite]

 

[Wallace]

On the bright side, he couldn't have picked a better "area" to do it. Do they charge HazMat fees on something like that?

 

[K'Tesh]

Seattle Times says today that they were 2000-lb bombs made safe for transport. Apparently, the Idaho State Patrol called them missiles in their initial reports and the news reported that misidentification.

That makes a lot more sense. The Mk-84 bomb is pretty stable, even for several minutes in direct contact with flames. The fuse has what it needs to explode, and it likely doesn't travel very far with a fuse installed (can't be certain, but likely only from the weapons depot to the aircraft in USAF situations, I'm guessing a similar situation for the USN).