Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion has named an incident review team to investigate the explosion (aftermath captured by ANN Reader Torea Rodriguez) that gutted and skinned a propellant-mixing building August 7 in San Jose (CA). Former ATK President Paul Ross will head the dozen-member team, which consists of independent industry experts and company officials.

All propellant-mixing functions on the site have been halted pending the results of the investigation. The specific impacts on production schedules from the stand down will depend on several factors, including the length of the investigation, findings from the review team and the stage of production.

"We are working directly with our customers for each of our programs to ensure that they know if there will be any impact to their program," P&W Space Propulsion and Russian Operations President Larry Knauer said. "Once we have the final report from the review team and implemented any needed modifications, we will resume propellant mixing immediately."

The blast, though of prodigious proportion, did not cause outside damage. Residents in the remote area, as far as five miles away, reported they felt their houses shake; but no damage was done, and no one was hurt, except for one P&W employee who reported some hearing loss. He was in a building a quarter-mile away when the blast went off. While one of the buildings used to mix propellant was essentially destroyed, other mixing buildings and casting buildings were not impacted. Additionally, a 600-gallon propellant mixer, similar to the one involved in last week's incident, was already being overhauled and prepared for operation. That process is being expedited and is a high priority.

FMI: www.pratt-whitney.com