# How NOT to Handle a Large Bomb **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 11, 2004, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-handle-a-large-bomb/233635 "2004-03-11T04:18:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-handle-a-large-bomb/233635/21 "2004-03-12T00:52:43Z")
> [@Encinitas](#): > > I particularly enjoyed [this](http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/photo/images/photo39.jpg) image from the site. :eek: :eek: :eek: What. The. _Hell?_ How did _that_ happen? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-handle-a-large-bomb/233635/22 "2004-03-12T00:58:05Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > On the message board that I saw the pic on, one poster made the following comment > > > [@](#): > > > > I’ve seen this picture before. > > What many people don’t know is that the guy didn’t slip off the dock, he was taking it up onto the dock by popping a reverse wheelie and using momentum to take him up over the top. I think he would have made it too, if he had just lifted the forks a bit higher. > > No idea where he got that information. You don’t seriously believe that do you? ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-handle-a-large-bomb/233635/23 "2004-03-12T04:26:50Z")
Lotsa good pics on that site. [this one](http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/photo/images/photo44.jpg)will make me lose some sleep tonight. [This one](http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/photo/images/photo64.jpg) will make me toss on an extra blanket. [and this one](http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/photo/images/photo84.jpg) made me giggle. [This one](http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/photo/images/photo92.jpg) explains the noise your computer has been making. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-handle-a-large-bomb/233635/24 "2004-03-12T06:10:22Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > :eek: :eek: :eek: > > What. The. _Hell?_ How did _that_ happen? I´ve seen that one before, IIRC a pilot started the engine of his plane (sigle engine) and for some reason he was not onboard and the brakes were not engaged or something… anyway, the plane started rolling and ended up chewing up the side of the plane in the picture, the propeller tips, as the plane advanced cut it up like that. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-handle-a-large-bomb/233635/25 "2004-03-12T07:50:12Z")
> [@roxx222](#): > > Actually, even if the pic isn’t a fake, I think it’s a setup. How could the truck have ended up at that angle against the wall just from tipping forward? Unless maybe he had it in reverse and then hit the accelerator? I drive a forklift for a living. Someone was not paying attention and just drove right off the dock. It didn’t just fall over the edge, it was moving forward, probably at a pretty good clip if he is like most people that drive them, and the momentum moved everything that far. If he didn’t jump off as it went over (which he should not do) then he got banged up on the steering wheel, maybe broke some ribs. I am not sure what you mean about him having it in reverse and hitting the accelerator putting it in that position. There is no way possible to back it up into that spot. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-handle-a-large-bomb/233635/26 "2004-03-12T08:36:30Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > :eek: :eek: :eek: > > What. The. _Hell?_ How did _that_ happen? …You ever see one of those old “Looney Toons” shorts where someone gets swiped at by a Puma, staggers back seemingly unaffected, then collapses into a stack of cold cuts? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-handle-a-large-bomb/233635/27 "2004-03-12T12:52:41Z")
One more reason that planes and blenders don’t mix. ---
**Author:** ![Sub-Contractor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@Sub-Contractor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sub-Contractor)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-handle-a-large-bomb/233635/28 "2004-03-12T13:21:38Z")
> [@](#): > > Gotta wonder how far the driver ran after he dropped it. Heh. But, I’d be pissed if I just got a few cracked ribs from being an arse and everyone laughing at me. I’d want a filled bomb instead of a shell…then people would respect my screw-up! ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-handle-a-large-bomb/233635/29 "2004-03-12T22:55:03Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > You don’t seriously believe that do you? You know, after reading it a little closer, I have to say that I’ve been whooshed. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-handle-a-large-bomb/233635/30 "2004-03-13T11:19:25Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > You know, after reading it a little closer, I have to say that I’ve been whooshed. Well, yeah. Pretty much. 😛 Lok ---
**Author:** ![The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6bbea6/32.png) [@The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Seventh_Deadly_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-handle-a-large-bomb/233635/31 "2004-03-16T15:15:08Z")
> [@roxx222](#): > > Actually, even if the pic isn’t a fake, I think it’s a setup. How could the truck have ended up at that angle against the wall just from tipping forward? Unless maybe he had it in reverse and then hit the accelerator? Are you saying someone set us up the bomb? Crap! Now all our base are belong to them! (I’m so, so, sorry…) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Milton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6bbea6/32.png) [@Mr.Milton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Milton)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-handle-a-large-bomb/233635/32 "2004-03-16T15:45:58Z")
It’s a very real picture. It’s a 2000 lb. MK65 “Quickstrike” Mine (an air-dropped anti-shipping mine). It has been correctly lifted under its center of gravity. It hasn’t of course been attentively handled. It is in no real danger of exploding due to the accident, but I suspect there is a Chief who has exploded on a forklift driver. Fuzes are normally only inserted in a weapon just prior to their being used. They are usually shipped separately. Even then, the weapon would (should) not arm much less detonate if dropped from the loading vehicle. This is especially true of a mine such as this one, which unlike a MK 80 series bomb, isn’t intended to detonate on contact or something similar. The fuzes on modern anti-shipping mines are quite sophisticated, and may work via sensing magnetic fields of ships, acoustic signatures, changes in water pressure, etc. They may also be set to count a certian number of vessels and then only go off when the Nth one of a certian type in in its area. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-handle-a-large-bomb/233635/33 "2004-03-16T15:54:46Z")
I’ve taken a look at the head-on shot of the forklift and bomb, and I’m wondering how it’s possible he got it through the door behind him. It just doesn’t look wide enough. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-handle-a-large-bomb/233635/34 "2004-03-16T17:11:10Z")
Well, it appears to be a sliding door; could be that after the drop, it was partially closed by someone. There’s also the forced perspective; the loading dock is wider than it looks in the head-on photo, and the door is farther away from the camera than it looks. And you can see inside the building; more bombs just like it are stacked up in the background. ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-handle-a-large-bomb/233635/35 "2004-03-16T20:01:27Z")
Look at the scrape marks on the pavement. And in the photo taken of the fin end of the device, there appears to be another scrape caused by the frame. I don’t have any trouble believing that with the weight of the device, the operator could pop a wheelie. I do not see, however, how the operator might have thought he could get the front end of the forklift up on the dock. But with the back wheels propped up and the fork blades impaled in the asphalt, it looks like it would be stuck. Although by raising the forks, it would either come free or tip completely over. But then look at the front wheels – they are not touching the ground. It’s hard to see how a wheelie could accomplish that. I’d be very interested in learning the real story. OffByOne (Richard F. Johnson) One year, six months, three days, 13 hours, 59 minutes and 46 seconds. 9910 cigarettes not smoked, saving $1,610.58. Life saved: 4 weeks, 6 days, 9 hours, 50 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-handle-a-large-bomb/233635/36 "2004-03-17T04:30:23Z")
**OffByOne** , as I mentioned, I drive a fork lift for a living. You do \*\*not \*\* pop a wheelie on one, any time one of your wheels comes off the ground you worry. If I pick up a load that is so heavy my back end is coming off the ground, I put it back down. The real story is, the guy missed his turn and went off the dock. Really. Lok [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-not-to-handle-a-large-bomb/233635.md?page=1)