September 30, 2011

On September 19, 1980, Titan II Launch Complex 374-7 located near Damascus (Van Buren County) exploded, sending the 740-ton launch duct closure door some 600 feet from the complex. The W-53 nuclear warhead, like the one shown here, landed approximately 100 feet from the front gate. This incident, in which one man was killed and the complex destroyed, became the most publicized disaster in the history of the Titan II missile program.