Fighter Jet Accidentally Fires Rocket Into Arizona Desert, No Injuries Reported

A fighter jet from the U.S. Airforce unintentionally released an M-156 rocket into the Arizona desert. According to the Officials, the M-156 rocket landed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, in a remote desert wash close to Mount Graham Thursday morning. No injuries were reported after Airforce investigated the matter.

The Airforce revealed that the jet, an A-10C Thunderbolt II, widely known as the Warthog assigned to the 354th Fighter Squadron of the 355th Fighter Wing at Davis-Monthan on Tucson, “unintentionally released a single M-156 rocket" at about 10:40 a.m. during a training mission.

The rocket, which fires white phosphorous smoke to determine targets and release fires, descended down in a desert wash about 60 miles North East of Tucson in an unguarded area belonging to the Jackal Military Operations, which supports air-to-air and night training missions for Davis-Monthan and Luke Air Force bases. The jet fired the rocket mid-way between Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, on Thursday, NBC News reported.

According to the Air Force, "This training area is not designated for munitions release."

In a similar incident, a Spanish Typhoon jet accidentally fired an air-to-air missile on Estonia, Europe whilst on a training mission. The Euro fighter Typhoon was flying with Spanish aircraft and two French Mirage 2000 jets when the incident took place on August 7, south-east Estonia, near the city of Otepaa in. While the Air Force was hunting for the missile which had a built-in self-destruct mode, the public was warned to maintain their safe distance. Irrespective of having numerous safety measures to deter accidental firings, the Eurofighter Typhoon fired the missile by mistake. Possibly, the missile may have been ejected from the aircraft, rather than fired, reported The Telegraph.

Juri Ratas, Prime Minister of Estonia "thanked God" through his Facebook post that no casualties were reported. He said, “I am sure that the Estonian defence forces will, in cooperation with our allies, identify all the circumstances of the case and make every effort to make sure that nothing like this happens again."