In Brief: 250-Pound WWII Bomb Found Less Than a Mile From Airport, Flights Canceled & Delayed

"Unless it was directly under the flight path." My caveat, which apparently you ignored in skim reading.... In the least optimal situation, detonation during defu(s)(z)ing or removal....The fragment and debris pattern from the detonation of a 250lb GB bomb is both limited and predictable, certainly contained within a radius of 100 yards, with neither likely to exceed 1,000' in altitude. Again, unless the bomb was located in close proximity to the flight paths used by a/c arriving or departing at CTA, it represented no real danger. A simple NOTAM would have adequately addressed the issue. 1943-44 saw a lot of bombs and artillery fall on Sicilian and Italian soil, and I'm sure that removal kept scores of ordnance disposal personnel busy for a couple of decades. Unfortunately, those involved, even the ones who survived multiple experiences, have likely departed for their eternal rest. But I suspect that the Italian military continues to train a few, ready for deployment to the world's hot spots, or to dig out the old manuals covering WWII-era bombs, with addenda addressing the nasty habits of old, corroded fu(z)(s)es (both spellings applicable, depending on the reader's location).

TMOLIVER, you missed the point. If the military and police bomb folks are coming into move the bomb, or safely detonate, and miss the mark and something goes wrong in the disposal process, bomb parts, shrapne, and other debries will fly into the sky. if the bomb is in the flight path I am not going to want to on the airplane right above as parts shoot into the engines or rip a hole in the side of the plane. So the bomb is likely fine just sitting there, but if something goes wrong in the disposal process, then wow. Yes, a plane can go down.

It's been a while, 50+ years) since I spent time in Catania, among the least appealing places in an otherwise under-rated tourist venue, Sicily (except in the dead of Summer). ....But I do know bombs, and have some familiarity with WWII-era 250lb GPs. Unless it was directly under the landing or takeoff paths of a/c operating from Catania's runway(s), the unexploded ordnance represented no threat to air ops. Even then, resting in Sicily's soil for a minimum of 72 years, the bomb was unlikely to detonate (although there certainly have been examples of ancient fuses activating after long dormancy, especially during careless removal. Perhaps too much of an abundance of caution.....