Accident Investigation at the Swiss Steingletscher Installation
Abstract
An accidental detonation caused the total destruction of the Swiss Steingletscher installation and resulted in six fatalities on November 2, 1992. The facility, operated by a Swiss Army munitions factory, was used to store HE and LE explosives and obsolete ammunition prior to their disposal at the Swiss Alps. The Swiss DOD personnel have been working on the documentation of the event since its occurrence in 1992. The planned investigation consisted of four main tasks, namely: (1) development of debris density maps; (2) checking models in TLM 75; (3) estimation of the quantity of stored explosives; (4) final investigative report. The unfortunate incident at the Steingletscher installation provided the USAF (YOX) the opportunity to acquire "real" data from a full scale event and at the same time assist the Swiss military authorities in their investigation of the mishap. This paper provides an update of the work completed to date by the Swiss authorities and the manner in which the Bakhtar Explosives Safety Criteria, developed under the US DOD SBIR Phases I and II for the US Air Force, was used to estimate the TNT equivalent weight of the explosives which caused the event.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA507023
Entities
People
- Hansjorg E. Rytz
- Joseph Jenus Jr.
- Khosrow Bakhtar
- Peter O. Kurnrner