1980 Damascus, Arkansas incident

The 1980 Damascus, Arkansas incident refers to an incident where a nuclear missile detonated in Damascus, Arkansas on September 18–19, 1980.

Incident
On the evening of the 18th, at about 6:30 p.m., an airman conducting maintenance on a USAF Titan-II missile at Little Rock Air Force Base's Launch Complex 374-7 in Southside (Van Buren County) just north of town, dropped a socket from a socket wrench, which fell about 80 ft before hitting and piercing the skin on the rocket's first-stage fuel tank, causing it to leak. The area was evacuated.

At about 3:00 a.m., on September 19, 1980, the hypergolic fuel exploded. The W53 warhead landed about 100 ft from the launch complex's entry gate; its safety features operated correctly and prevented any loss of radioactive material. One Air Force airman was killed, others seriously injured and the launch complex was destroyed. The former launch complex was decommissioned, disassembled, and now stands on private land.