§ Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the circumstances surrounding the dropping of a practice bomb in a field near Friskney, Lincolnshire, on 11 July.
§ Mr. Freeman[pursuant to his answer, 22 July]: In the course of a routine training sortie at Wainfleet range a USAF F-111 from RAF Upper Heyford accidentally released a practice bomb outside the range area. The practice bomb fell in open country to the north west of the range and has since been recovered.
651WPractice bomb on the F-111 are carried in underwing pods with bomb doors which are closed except when the aircraft is over the designated range area. In this incident, investigation has shown that an electrical system short-circuited just as the bomb doors were closing as the aircraft recovered from a normal bomb release over the range.