Bomb lands in US pub car park

A practice bomb from a US military aircraft was dropped onto the car park of a US pub last weekend.

Image credit: Lena Hartlove

An official from the Maryland National Guard said that an electronic failure may have been to blame for the accident.

The bomb landed in the car park at Darlene’s Tavern in Sudlersville, it fell from an A-10 Warthog jet that was returning from a training mission.

National Guard spokesman Lt Col Charles Kohler said the aircraft had been grounded while an investigation was carried out. He added that he didn’t know exactly what the device was that fell from the aircraft, but said, “it is made to fly like a 500-pound bomb, but weighs much less.”

No-one was injured in the accident, and Kohler said: “This is an unfortunate incident and we’re very lucky that no one was hurt. Safety is a top priority in all operations.”

Darlene Hurley, the owner of the tavern, said that a customer came into the bar saying that he thought a car in the car park was on fire. After looking closer she saw that the car was covered in dust and stones and there was a big hole in the ground close by and so phoned the emergency services.

After police offices spotted fins in the hole they called in the bomb squad. The bomb technicians subsequently discovered the fins and determined that it had come from a practice device and so brought in the National Guard.

Hurley said that with propane tanks close to the bar the incident could have caused a lot more damage. “It could have been a whole lot worse. It landed about 100 feet from the building,” she said. “It could have been really, really bad. Thank God everyone was OK.”