Font ResizeOne of two bombs dropped by a Hill Air Force fighter jet on the base during an in-flight emergency on Thursday was embedded 17 feet underground when searchers found it on an uninhabited part of the facility.
The 500-pound bomb did not detonate on impact, so Hill officials say the safest way to destroy it is to blow it up where it is.
"We will use successive shape-charged explosives to detonate and render safe the bomb," said 75th Air Base Wing commander Col. Patrick Higby. "These explosions are going to begin Saturday morning. We want the surrounding communities to know they may hear or see emergency vehicles, explosions, and possibly plumes of smoke as a result of the detonations."
It will be the second time that residents in the areas surrounding Hill have been exposed to such sights and sounds this week. On Thursday, an F-16 pilot jettisoned two external fuel tanks and two Mark 82 general purpose bombs before landing the jet back safely on base. Officials have not specified what kind of in-flight problem led to the unusual emergency action.
One of the bombs exploded on impact, destroying a tin shack and rupturing power lines near an area on the west side of the base where ordnance is stored in underground bunkers. It caused a power outage that lasted several hours. The second bomb buried itself not far away.
Hill will close the base's Roy gate near the 5600 S. exits of I-15 (exit 338) and the Hill Aerospace Museum during
An investigation into the cause of the incident is ongoing.
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