6-foot-long, 100-pound missile falls off Apache helicopter near Texas homes

Madison Ruppert, Contributor
Activist Post

In Killeen, Texas, a training missile – which is actually never meant to leave the helicopter – fell off an Apache helicopter flying out of the Fort Hood military base.

I wish I could say that this was the only example of the military doing things which seem nothing short of imbecilic, but that is far from the case. Watch the below video about the Navy spending another $262 million on drones that don’t work if you need another example:

Thankfully, the missile was inactive, but that does nothing to mitigate the fact that it landed in a residential area and resulted in the evacuation of a whopping 100 homes. If the Apache had been on active duty, the missile would have been the deadly AGM-115 Hellfire air-to-surface missile.

The Hellfire is usually loaded with a 20 pound warhead of highly-explosive ordnance which can easily pierce the armor on an armored vehicle and subsequently destroy it.

The missile landed in a field near the home of former soldier Kenton Davis, whose two boys were busy playing outside, although it is unclear if they were outside at the time the missile landed.

“I think I broke half of it trying to pull it out until I realized what it was when I lifted it up and read the bottom of it, so … yeah,” Davis said.

Davis was likely referring to the label on the hefty piece of hardware which notes that it is a training missile.

A spokesperson for the Killeen police department, Carroll Smith, noted that no one was hurt by the falling missile and that it thankfully fell in a field.

Smith noted that Fort Hood has taken over the investigation into the incident.

She also stated that a witness reported seeing an object fall from a military helicopter around 8 PM Tuesday.

We should truly be thankful that the missile fell into a field and not a home, as it left a hole several feet deep at the point of impact.

While The Associated Press reports that a spokesman for the post did not immediately return a message regarding the incident on Wednesday, Fort Hood ordinance technicians examined the missile and declared that it was not active.

Smith noted that the individuals who were evacuated from the 100 homes were allowed back into their residences within an hour of the missile drop after the missile had been secured.

According to III Corps Chief Aviation Colonel Howard Arey, who spoke with NewsCore, the device in question is known as an M-36 Captive Flight missile.

The M-36 Captive Flight missile is a training device designed to allow Apache crews to simulate engagements with enemies.

However, the M-36 is never meant to even leave the helicopter and is not armed with an explosive warhead or a propulsion device of any kind.

“The Fort Hood air crews never, ever fly with live ordnance off the installation. Aviation safety is first and foremost with our partner communities, and that is always in our plan and considerations,” Arey said.

“Safety is always our number one concern, and we regret the inconvenience to the families affected in the area,” Arey said, according to the British Daily Mail.

Well Colonel Arey, it’s hardly easy to claim that safety is your number one concern when a potentially deadly 100-pound chunk of metal falls from the air into a residential area.

I wouldn’t really call that an “inconvenience” either, but I guess classifying what could have killed someone as an “inconvenience” is a lot easier than calling it “a potentially deadly, inexcusable mistake.”

“We want to reassure the public that our military aircraft never fly off the installation with live munitions,” Arey added.

It’s hardly reassuring to think that a massive missile could fall through your roof and either obliterate you, your children, or your home, even if it is not “live ordnance.”

Arey said that the crew manning the Apache at the time would have no way to know that the missile fell off their helicopter, although they were called back to the base when the drop was recorded.

To be brutally honest, I would be surprised if the investigation into the incident turned up anything other than something which can’t be blamed on a single individual, such as a random mechanical failure.

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This article first appeared at End the Lie.