Disaster at Silo 7

Disaster at Silo 7 was a 1988 television movie about a missile accident at a U.S. Air Force Titan II launch complex. The incident in the movie was similar to the explosion that occurred at Launch Complex 374-7 at Southside (Van Buren County) on September 18, 1980. Disaster at Silo 7 was directed by Larry Elikann from a script by Mark Carliner (who was also an executive producer) and Douglas Lloyd McIntosh. Much of it was filmed at the Titan II Museum in Green Valley, Arizona—the only launch complex that was preserved—and in California. The ninety-six-minute movie premiered on ABC on November 27, 1988.

During filming, the working title was Silo, and in August 1988, studio publicists gave this description: “In 1980 at an Air Force complex, a wrench pierces a fuel tank. One man realizes the danger and races against time—and bureaucratic red tape—to repair the damage. But his efforts fail and the silo blows sky high. After officials breathe a sigh of relief…yet another danger is revealed! The warhead, thrown clear in the blast, is missing. And if it isn’t found it could explode and take the state with it.”

The film starred Michael O’Keefe as Staff Sergeant Mike Fitzgerald, Patricia Charbonneau as his wife Kathy, and Dennis Weaver as Sheriff Ben Harlan. It also featured Peter Boyle, Perry King, and Joe Spano. Set in a fictional air force base in Texas—a state that did not house any of the fifty-four Titan II launch complexes spread among Arkansas, Arizona, and Kansas—the movie depicts an accident in which an airman drops a wrench socket while servicing a missile, puncturing the rocket’s fuel tank and causing a leak that ultimately causes an explosion.

An Arkansas Gazette columnist described it as “a hoked-up TV show….Don’t expect much in the way of accuracy from this one,” though it did correctly portray the cause of the real 1980 accident, the actions taken by the airmen in attempting to determine the severity of the fuel leak, and the injuries suffered by the airmen, one of whom died. In the Arkansas incident, though, the warhead was never considered lost.

The Arkansas Democrat’s television magazine noted that “ABC officials would neither confirm nor deny that the film is based on the explosion of the missile silo at Damascus, Ark. in September 1980,” reflecting the U.S. Air Force’s standard policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear warheads at launch complexes.

A Democrat columnist interviewed Carliner, who characterized the air force as brave for its cooperation in making the film, saying, “I mean, the event was not the Air Force’s finest hour…and this isn’t a training film. I convinced them that I would make the movie anyway and that it would be to their advantage to cooperate. They did.”

After the film’s premiere, United Press International wrote that “ABC’s Disaster at Silo 7 [was] a ratings disaster in 52nd place on a list of 65 shows.” It was nominated for two primetime Emmy awards, however, for Roy H. Wagner’s cinematography and for Olivia Burnette’s portrayal of the Fitzgeralds’ daughter.

The September 1980 Titan II explosion was also the subject of the 2016 documentary film Command and Control based on Eric Schlosser’s 2013 book Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety.

For additional information:
“Disaster at Silo 7 (TV movie).” Internet Movie Database. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095032/ (accessed May 30, 2025).

Johnson, Paul. “With Censors Away, ‘Son’ Got Hot, Heavy.” Arkansas Gazette, November 4, 1988, p. 6E.

Moore, Becki. “Titan II Missile Explosion Becomes TV Movie Plot.” Arkansas Democrat, August 16, 1988, pp. 1E, 2E.

———. “TV Movie ‘Silo 7’ Understandably ‘Adventure-Thriller.’” Arkansas Democrat, November 27, 1988, p. 1F.

“‘Silo 7’ Based on Real Event.” Arkansas Democrat TV Magazine, November 27, 1988, p. 33.

“Thanksgiving Proves a Turkey for Cosby.” Macon [Missouri] Chronicle-Herald, December 1, 1988, p. 3.

Mark K. Christ
Little Rock, Arkansas