Bomb Casing on Freeway Hurts Nothing But the Traffic Flow

The “bomb” was no problem, but the traffic jam was.

The California Highway Patrol shut all lanes of the Ventura Freeway in Woodland Hills for about an hour Thursday after what appeared to be a large bomb fell off the back of a truck and was found in an eastbound lane about 2:50 p.m.

Bomb experts from the Los Angeles Police Department determined that the device was, in fact, a 4-foot-long, 300-pound aircraft bomb casing, CHP Lt. Charles Shipley said.

“The thing was a dud, not containing any explosive,” Shipley said.

But as soon as the military device was discovered in the fast lane just east of De Soto Avenue, the freeway was closed between De Soto and Winnetka Avenue, he said. While officials were examining the device, traffic came to a virtual standstill for about 10 miles in each direction.

As officials investigated, the driver of a flatbed truck, registered to S & H Trucklines of Fontana, showed up and said the casing had fallen off his vehicle, Shipley said.

The trucker, who was not identified, said he was hauling 16 casings from the Navy’s base in Port Hueneme to its base in Seal Beach, the CHP official said. The casings are used for under-the-wing bombs, he said.

Shipley said the CHP will ask the district attorney’s office to charge the driver or the truck company with improperly securing the casing.

The freeway was reopened about 4 p.m. but traffic flow was not back to normal until nearly 8 p.m., the CHP said.