Air Force calls B-52 nuke flyover "unacceptable mistake"

Source: AP
WASHINGTON — In its first explicit confirmation that nuclear-armed missiles were erroneously flown from an air base in North Dakota to a base in Louisiana in late August, the Air Force today called the episode an "unacceptable mistake" — of a sort that had never happened before.
"We are making all appropriate changes to ensure this has a minimal chance of ever happening again," Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne told reporters.
He spoke at a Pentagon news conference after Defense Secretary Robert Gates was briefed on the results of the Air Force's investigation into the Aug. 29-30 incident — one of the worst known breaches of nuclear weapons handling procedures in decades.
Appearing with Wynne was Maj. Gen. Richard Newton, the Air Force deputy chief of staff for operations, who attributed the episode to an "unprecedented string of procedural errors" beginning with a failure by airmen to conduct a required inspection of the missiles before they were loaded aboard the B-52 bomber that flew from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base, La.
"This was a failure to follow procedures — procedures that have proven to be sound," Newton said.
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