HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, New Mexico (AP) -- The Air Force has grounded a fighter pilot who accidentally dropped three dummy bombs, including one that fell on a house.
The pilot did not know his F-117A stealth fighter was carrying the 25-pound practice bombs as he targeted trash bins and other structures during a training exercise Tuesday, the pilot's wing commander said.
"This is not the way we do business, and we're very disappointed it happened," Brig. Gen. Marc Rogers said.
The pilot, whose name was not released, dropped the bombs on a home in Monahans, Texas, and near roads in Pecos, Texas, and Maljimar, New Mexico. No one was injured.
He was suspended pending an investigation.
Rogers said training flights are routinely flown around the Southwest using cameras to simulate bombs aimed at targets, sometimes in populated areas.
Rogers said a routine preflight check, performed by pilots and maintenance personnel, includes an inspection of the bomb bay. But other factors, including a mechanical failure in the plane, may have caused the accident, he said.
One of the practice bombs went through a home's roof and into a bathroom, plowing six feet into the ground. Rogers said the Air Force will repair the home.