U.S missile fired "by accident" in Qatar

U.S missile fired "by accident" in Qatar

rawstory.com

A Patriot missile was launched accidentally from a US military base in the Gulf state of Qatar, crashing into a farm but causing no casualties.

"A Patriot missile landed on a farm belonging to a Qatari national after being fired by accident from the As-Sailiyah camp," Al-Jazeera television reported on Tuesday.

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[edit on 17-10-2007 by subject x]

Oops!!
Fired by accident, you say? Is this the same kind of accident that strapped a half dozen nukes to a plane? I'm no missile expert, but I'll bet there's more to launching them then hitting a button one could "accidentally" sit on or lean against. Maybe they're tied into the phone system, and someone just tried to transfer a call, hit the wrong button, and whoosh!

It's just lucky no-one got "accidentally" killed or maimed.

rawstory.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

According to unconfirmed reports, the missile exploded in mid-air, scattering debris over the farm, which is situated in the desert north of As-Sailiyah.
source

Critics of the Patriot system were right...it really couldn't hit a barn-door

reply to post by citizen smith


It is called self destruct, and it can be manually initiated by an operator should something go wrong with the missile, most missiles have such a system built in. There is more to this story, probably an error in the targeting launch computer, especially if it was on automatic mode. When the overseeing operator noticed the launch the missile was destroyed, at least that's what I think is the most likely scenario.

Anyway, apart from the cynical comments and tone on here is there a point being pushed with this story?