Usually, containers have inert missiles in them, but this S-530 French air-to-air missile had explosives on it – although it was not armed.
The container arrived at Lakeland Linder Airport near Tampa, FL on on Aug. 14, 2020 with aircraft parts shipped by Draken International, an aerospace and defense company. They said the containers usually contained inert missiles but for some reason, this one container had a live missile inside.
I’m not sure about you but I’d like to know that reason! A bomb with basically just its safety on just landed at a suburban airport – shouldn’t there be some accountability here!
Draken International released the following statement:
Adhering to the explosive safety rule of exposing the minimum amount of people for the minimum amount of time to a potential explosive hazard, the decision was made to evacuate the facility and its surrounding airport neighbors and contact the appropriate authorities. Draken takes its roll in the community seriously and always wants to ensure it performs safe and reliable operations.
Whoopdee do! An illiterate “tough shit” from Draken. (It’s role not roll guys, btw.)
Local firefighters and an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from MacDill Air Force Base responded to investigate and determined the missile was not “armed” and safely disposed of it.
Thank God for the grown-ups!