US nearly detonated atomic bomb over North Carolina

[E.J.]

From The Guardian:

A secret document, published in declassified form for the first time by the Guardian today, reveals that the US Air Force came dramatically close to detonating an atom bomb over North Carolina that would have been 260 times more powerful than the device that devastated Hiroshima.

The document, obtained by the investigative journalist Eric Schlosser under the Freedom of Information Act, gives the first conclusive evidence that the US was narrowly spared a disaster of monumental proportions when two Mark 39 hydrogen bombs were accidentally dropped over Goldsboro, North Carolina on 23 January 1961. The bombs fell to earth after a B-52 bomber broke up in mid-air, and one of the devices behaved precisely as a nuclear weapon was designed to behave in warfare: its parachute opened, its trigger mechanisms engaged, and only one low-voltage switch prevented untold carnage.

Each bomb carried a payload of 4 megatons – the equivalent of 4 million tons of TNT explosive. Had the device detonated, lethal fallout could have been deposited over Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and as far north as New York city – putting millions of lives at risk.

The document was uncovered by Schlosser as part of his research into his new book on the nuclear arms race, Command and Control. Using freedom of information, he discovered that at least 700 "significant" accidents and incidents involving 1,250 nuclear weapons were recorded between 1950 and 1968 alone.

Full article here:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/20/usaf-atomic-bomb-north-carolina-1961

[JamesSavik]

USA ! USA ! Woo HOO! We're so bad ass, we have to BOMB OURSELVES!

The rest of the world better back up cuz we're some crazy motherf**%rs!

[FreeThinker]

LOL! You go James!

Actually, I can;t think of a state I;d rather nuke more than NC. Unless it's Texas.:-)

[JamesSavik]

LOL! You go James!

Actually, I can;t think of a state I;d rather nuke more than NC. Unless it's Texas.:-)

Glad your catching onto my insane sense of humor.

[Chris James]

One can hope that our military mavens have redesigned this type of ordinance. I would not have enjoyed a healthy childhood if the damn things had gone off. Anyone want to venture a guess as to why we were flying around over the continental U.S. with an armed nuke? Extreme war games? Or maybe someone lost the special wrench to remove the arming device, that would be more likely.

[JamesSavik]

In the late fifties/early sixties the Soviets began deploying their first reliable ICBMs which gave US a number of problems. We did not as yet have launch detection satellites and the kind of radar sites necessary to detect ICBMs. We were still years away from implementing the nuclear triad: sub launched missiles, air launched missiles and bombs and silo based missiles which eventually because our doctrine that insured that we would have a retaliatory capability after a Soviet first strike.

At the time, our first warning of Soviet attack might have been mushroom clouds.

To avoid getting caught with out bombers on the ground, we had a significant nuclear strike in the air 24/7.

Remember that the Admirals and Generals at this time had been midshipmen and cadets when Pearl Harbor happened. The idea of a nuclear Pearl Harbor that wreaked the majority of the US and destroyed our retaliatory capability was their worst nightmare.

[The Pecman]

One can hope that our military mavens have redesigned this type of ordinance. I would not have enjoyed a healthy childhood if the damn things had gone off. Anyone want to venture a guess as to why we were flying around over the continental U.S. with an armed nuke? Extreme war games? Or maybe someone lost the special wrench to remove the arming device, that would be more likely.

 

Our military jets still fly with H-bombs, and will continue doing so as long as there's threats of terrorism and aggression in the world. I don't have a problem with it as long as they use common sense.

 

I grew up and spent most of my childhood living just 2 miles away from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, and I remember the fear on my parents' faces during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, when I had just turned 8. I didn't find out until I was in my late teens that MacDill was a primary target for the Russians with their nukes in Cuba, and that this is where all of the major bombs in the Southeast are located. 

 

I can also remember teachers showing us films like this in the early 1960s:

 

 

Little did we know that "Duck & Cover" wouldn't work, not if the bomb was going off 2 miles from the school. 100 miles, you might have a chance (unless the winds blow the nuclear dust in your area). They should've made a different cartoon: "Put your head between your knees and kiss your ass goodbye," but that wouldn't be as easy to fit into a clever kid's jingle in a cartoon. 

[ChrisR]

The absolute best review of America's nuclear arsenal (including the NC 'oops') was presented by John Oliver a couple of years back. It doesn't get clearer than this!

https://youtu.be/1Y1ya-yF35g

[colinian]

I record the John Oliver shows then watch them when I have time. Funny guy!

Colin

[Jeff Ellis]

I recall a nice story of a pair of engineers watching a missile falling off its launcher, with a tonne of amatol in its nose. One ran like hell and the other just stood there. After a large crunch and long silence his athletic colleague returned and asked him why he had stood frozen on the spot...

"Either the Safety and Arming Unit was going to work, or it wasn't. I couldn't run fast enough to make any difference."

Thats what SAU's are there for, to turn lethal weapons into litter.

Way to go guys... well done the SAU engineers, though its a bit of a pity that the B29 broke up.

As another wag said "the difference between missile engineers and aircraft engineers is that the latter kill pilots by accident.

[Resurgam]

I wasn't aware of that particular B-52 crash in North Carolina... but there have been many others. IMO the most famous (infamous?) being the 1966 Rota/Palomares mid-air collision incident in Almeria, Spain Three H-bombs fell on land and the conventional explosives in two of the warheads detonated resulting in widespread radioactive pollution which required a massive clean up including the destruction of vast areas of crops. IIRC one or more bombs went through all the interlocks bar one! Phew! The bigger headache was the 4th bomb which fell into the sea and could not be found. After an 80 day search it was eventually found by the Bathyscaphe 'Alvin' very deep indeed down at 2,500 feet hanging by it's parachute off the side of an underwater canyon. It's a nail-biting story because the Alvin crew only found it when they listened to what a local fisherman said and stopped looking where the USN insisted they keep looking. To cap it all the bomb was dropped during the first recovery attempt and temporarily lost again. Yet another well known 'Broken Arrow' incident was the B-52 crash near Thule Airbase in Greenland in 1968 requiring another big decontamination operation. If you're feeling brave Wikipedia has a long list of military nuclear accidents here. Pleasant dreams! :) Personally I'm more worried about Mr Trump getting his finger anywhere near the button.

[ChrisR]

A great book on the subject of US nuclear weapon "whoopsies" is Command and Control by Eric Schlosser. Tedious at times with all the detail, but for the same reason a fascinating reference for just how dangerous it has been. And it doesn't even go into accidents the other teams have had!