Overturned missile transport cleared from road - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Overturned missile transport cleared from road

BISMARCK, N.D. — The Air Force says it has retrieved an overturned vehicle carrying a rocket booster for an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile.

The truck carrying the rocket booster crashed on a gravel road between Parshall and Makoti on July 31.

Maj. Elizabeth Ortiz, a Minot Air Force Base spokeswoman, says the truck and booster rocket were taken back to the base late Saturday. She says an Air Force team was on scene Monday assessing damage to the road and soil at the crash site.

Ortiz says the cause of the crash is under investigation.

Early reports show the vehicle tipped over on the gravel access road after the road gave out under the truck, an Air Force official said after the accident, which occurred about 70 miles southwest of Minot.

Minot emergency and security officials immediately responded to the scene, along with local fire department officials. No injuries to the vehicle’s crew were reported other than minor cuts and bruises.

Sensitive missile components were removed and transported to a more secure area soon after the crash, according to Maj. Laurie Arellano, an Air Force Space Command spokeswoman. Base security forces maintained a cordon around the truck as long as it remained on the road.