BIG BUG GOES BALLISTIC - INSECT DISTRACTS MISSILE TRUCK DRIVER

  • Published
  • By Tim Barela
  • Torch Magazine
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  If it were a screenplay, the scene might read something like this: Camera long shot of military truck driver cruising along a rural road in an 18-wheeler carrying intercontinental ballistic missile components. Buzzing bug flies into scene; camera follows. Close-up of huge, hideous insect landing on driver's back. Close-up of driver's frantic face. Medium shot of driver's arms flailing to swat the bug. Long shot of driver losing control of truck and flipping it on its side.

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

According to an Air Force Space Command accident investigation board report recently released, that scene pretty much happened late last summer.

Investigators said driver error caused a payload transporter vehicle carrying non-nuclear ICBM components to overturn in a rural area near Minot Air Force Base, N.D. The board determined that the driver became distracted and failed to maintain control of the vehicle when a large insect flew into the truck's open window and landed on the driver's back. The report said no additional factors contributed to the cause of the mishap.

The vehicle drifted to the right side of the gravel road while the driver tried to remove the insect, and the tractor trailer's tires went off the right edge of the road, investigators said. The 18-wheeler then tipped onto its right side and came to rest in the ditch next to a hayfield.

There were no injuries, and the accident posed no danger to the public, investigators said.

Recovery costs and damage to the vehicle and its cargo, both assigned to the 91st Missile Wing at Minot, added up to nearly $200,000, according to the mishap report.

"Studies show that distracted driving is the leading cause of vehicle mishaps," said Master Sgt. Scotty Johns, a ground safety expert with the Air Education and Training Command Safety Directorate. "Whether it's a cell phone, playing with the radio or, as in the Minot incident, a big bug, you should try to eliminate distractions and stay focused when behind the wheel. Pull over and eliminate the distraction. A two-second delay before 'swatting the bug' just might save your life."