The US Air Force has disciplined 70 personnel who were responsible for letting a B-52 strategic bomber fly a mission carrying live nuclear missiles. USAF Major General Richard Newton said there had been an "erosion of adherence to weapons-handling standards".Gen Newton was announcing the results of a six-week probe into an incident in which the B-52 was inadvertently armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and flown from Minot in North Dakota to Barksdale in Louisiana.
Nobody noticed the mistake for more than a day.
The missiles were being taken to Louisiana, but the warheads were supposed to have been removed beforehand. A main reason for the error was that crews had decided not to follow a complex schedule under which the status of the missiles is tracked while they are disarmed, loaded and moved. (Sky News)
