Abstract: At 2:15 p.m. on August 14, 1996, Employee #1 was at some wastewater ponds where mosquito fish were being raised by his employer. He was using a 37 mm Super Bird Banger hand-held rocket launcher to frighten away birds and predators in areas 100 to 200 yd away. The launcher had a short barrel that held the projectile and a plunger-type firing device that screwed onto the barrel. When a shell exploded in the barrel, the small spring-loaded plunger recoiled back into Employee #1's hand. He sustained eight fractured bones in his wrist, a fractured index finger and radius bone, a severed artery in his right wrist, and a large laceration on his right palm. It was not known why the shell exploded prematurely. Employee #1 and his supervisor both stated that the barrel of the device was clear of any obstruction. At the time of the accident Employee #1 was working for a special district commission engaged in mosquito abatement.