This day in US nuclear accidents

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My mistake from the above entry.

30 June

1966 - A-4C / Near Vieques Island, Puerto Rico

Due to equipment malfunction, a complete OST bomb without nuclear materials was accidentally lost off a Navy bomber during an operational suitability test flight near the island of Vieques, off the east coast of Puerto Rico. The Navy plane was operating from the carrier U.S.S. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT (CVA-42). The weapon was believed lost in waters 120 feet deep while the plane was conducting a practice strike against a simulated airfield on Vieques, an island used by the U.S. Navy as a bombing and gunnery target.

Although there was no danger from explosion or radioactivity, the loss of the classified device in shallow waters led to a search by seven Navy mine sweepers, a landing ship dock, and a salvage ship. After scanning a 10 square mile area, the weapon was found about 1,500 yards offshore. The search effort was hindered in part by the large amount of metallic debris on the ocean bottom.

The OST device was located at 5:42 AM EDT on August 20 two miles northeast of Punta Este. The center body was intact and fragments were scattered within a 100 yard radius. There had been no detonation of the HE in the device. The OST weapon was recovered by 7:45 PM on the same day; by August 22, all major components had been recovered and delivered to the Roosevelt Roads naval station. The device was later disassembled at Sandia base in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Because of fear of attempts of recovery by unauthorized or hostile parties, no public announcement of the incident was ever made.

Chuck Hansen, “The Swords of Armageddon,” Vol. VII, p.285.

 

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Unknown date in the Summer

1951 – B-36 / Eglin AFB Bombing Range

A B-36 crew was on a training mission to the Eglin AFB bombing range in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida panhandle to drop an unarmed obsolete nuclear gravity bomb on a water target. Because of past mechanical problems, the bombardier was briefed to open the airplane’s bomb bay doors at the Initial Point (IP).

Although the bomber’s bombing-navigation radar was still in the navigation mode, the bomb dropped unexpectedly when the bay doors were opened, and the 5,000 lbs. of high explosives in the weapon burst in the air over a non-designated target area. An intensive investigation concluded that a corroded D-2 switch, a hand-held bomb release switch, was found to be in the “closed” position and the bomb was dropped through equipment malfunction.

Chuck Hansen, “The Swords of Armageddon,” Vol. VII, p.239

1959 – NIKE HERCULES / Okinawa

In June or July 1959, A NIKE HERCULES surface-to-air missile was inadvertently launched from Site 8 at Naha AFB when a short-circuit in the launcher caused the boosters to ignite during a continuity test of the launch circuit. Several Army personnel were killed and injured. The missile blasted through a chain-link fence, across a deserted beach, and landed in the water offshore several hundred yards away from the launcher. Upon impact with the water, the missile broke up and the warhead “skipped across the water like a flat rock” before finally stopping and sinking.

Two Army personnel were killed instantly by the blast of the booster, and at least one other was injured. (This may have been one of the two accidental surface-to-air missile launches reportedly recounted to President John Kennedy early in 1961.)

Chuck Hansen, “The Swords of Armageddon,” Vol. VII, p.254.

 

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1 - 3 July

No reported incidents.

 

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4 - 5 July

No reported incidents.

 

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6 July

1959 - C-124 / Barksdale AFB, near Shreveport, Louisiana

A C-124 on a nuclear logistics movement mission carrying three thermonuclear weapons to Little Rock AFB crashed on takeoff after suffering loss of power to its number three and four engines approximately 3,500 feet from the end of runway 14 at approximately 2:10 PM. The entire fuselage of the aircraft and two starboard engines were destroyed by fire which also destroyed one weapon. Wing sections between fuselage and engines also sustained fire damage and were further damaged upon impact.

The entire aircraft tail section remained intact. No nuclear or HE detonations occurred; weapon safety devices functioned as designed and all three weapons were recovered from the wreckage.

All seven aircrew members suffered minor cuts and bruises. There was damage to the airbase; approximately three acres of planted cotton, a strip of freshly-cut straw stubble about 15 feet wide, and about 180 feet of barbed wire and six fence posts were torn up by the crash.

There was limited nuclear contamination over a one square foot area immediately below the destroyed weapon. This contamination did not hamper rescue or fire fighting operations. The fire was fought with foam, which seemed to extinguish the blaze. However, when it began raining, the foam was washed away and the fire re-ignited.

Chuck Hansen, “The Swords of Armageddon,” Vol. VII, pp.254-255.

 

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7 - 12 July

No reported incidents.

 

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13 July

1950 –B-50D / Lebanon, Ohio

A B-50D was on a training mission from Biggs AFB, near El Paso, Texas, flying between 7,000 and 8,000 feet on a clear day. At about 2:54 PM EST, the aircraft was seen in a spiraling descent, followed by a stall at about 4,000 feet and a spin to the right. The aircraft nosed down and flew into the ground, crashing and exploding instantly between Lebanon and Mason, Ohio, killing four officers and 12 airmen.

There were no radio communications from the plane before it crashed, and although crew members were wearing parachutes, none bailed out. The HE in an unarmed nuclear weapon aboard the aircraft detonated on impact, making a 200 square-foot crater 25 feet deep; the explosion was heard over a radius of 25 miles. There was no nuclear capsule aboard the plane.

Chuck Hansen, “The Swords of Armageddon,” Vol. VII, p.237

 

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14 - 16 July

No reported incidents.

 

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17 July

1960 – U.S. Navy ship / Unknown

At approximately 0950 Zulu hours, a nuclear weapon magazine on the ship was flooded to a depth of two or three feet, caused by the failure of a steel cap on a brass nipple of the fire main. The failure was caused by electrolytic action. A number of weapons were flooded with about six inches of water inside their cases, but their pits remained dry. Action was taken aboard the ship to dry the weapon interiors and prevent further deterioration caused by salt water. All weapons were offloaded to appropriate sites for inspection and replacement weapons were furnished to the Navy.

Chuck Hansen, “The Swords of Armageddon,” Vol. VII, p.261.

 

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18 July

No reported incidents.

 

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19 July

1962 – JUPITER missile / Italy

A JUPITER missile armed with a W-49 warhead was struck by lightning, resulting in deuterium-tritium boosting gas being injected into the warhead pit and activation of thermal batteries in the adaption kit. The missile was returned to operational status after 62 days. The warhead was returned to the AEC’s Clarksville facility for repair.

Chuck Hansen, “The Swords of Armageddon,” Vol. VII, p.270.

 

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20 - 24 July

No reported incidents.

 

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25 July

1962 - THOR missile / Johnston Island, Pacific Ocean

During a third attempt to conduct a high-altitude thermonuclear explosion, the THOR launch vehicle and its W-49 warhead were deliberately destroyed on the launching pad following engine malfunction. Damage to the pad and contamination of the launch complex were serious enough to delay completion of the nuclear test operation.

Chuck Hansen, “The Swords of Armageddon,” Vol. VII, p.271.

 

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26 July

1955 – Navy jet / Near Roswell, New Mexico

On the afternoon of July 26, a Navy jet fighter flying a practice mission developed engine trouble and jettisoned an Operational Suitability Test (OST) bomb approximately 40 miles from Roswell. The bomb, which was not carrying nuclear components, was later recovered.

Chuck Hansen, “The Swords of Armageddon,” Vol. VII, p.240

 

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27 July

1956 – B-47 / RAF Base Lakenheath, near Cambridge, East Anglia, England ("SAC REFLEX Base")


A B-47 from Lincoln AFB, Nebraska with no weapons aboard was on a routine training mission making a touch-and-go landing when the aircraft suddenly went out of control and slid off the runway, crashing into a storage igloo containing three MK 6 bombs in storage configuration. Although the B-47 and its fuel burned after impact into the igloo, killing all four crewmen, the nuclear weapons did not burn or detonate. (One SAC bomb disposal officer stated that it was “a miracle” that one MK 6 with exposed detonators sheared off did not explode.)

There were no contamination or cleanup problems. The damaged weapons and components were returned to the AEC. No capsules of nuclear material were in either the weapons or the storage igloo. The presence of nuclear weapons was officially denied at the time of the accident: personnel on the base were ordered to evacuate the area because there allegedly was live .50-caliber ammunition in the burning plane.

Chuck Hansen, “The Swords of Armageddon,” Vol. VII, p.242

 

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28 July

1957 – C-124 / Atlantic Ocean

Two MK 5 weapons without nuclear capsules installed were jettisoned from a C-124 off the east coast of the United States approximately 100 miles southeast of Naval Air Station, Pomona, New Jersey, just outside Delaware Bay east of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and south of Wildwood and Cape May, New Jersey. The aircraft was carrying three weapons and one nuclear capsule; the weapons were in Complete Assembly for Ferry (CAF) condition.

Nuclear components were not installed in the weapons; power supplies were installed but not connected. The C-124 was enroute from Dover AFB, Delaware, to Europe via the Azores islands when its two left wing engines lost power. Maximum power was applied to the two engines on the right wing; however, level flight could not be maintained. At this point, the crew decided to jettison one weapon at an altitude of 4,500 feet approximately 75 miles off the coast of New Jersey. The second weapon was jettisoned soon afterwards at an altitude of 2,500 feet at a distance of 50 miles from the New Jersey coast.

No detonation was seen to occur from either weapon, and both bombs were presumed to have been damaged or destroyed on impact with the sea and to have sunk almost instantly. (The ocean varied in depth near the sites where the weapons were jettisoned.)

The C-124 landed at an airfield in the vicinity of Atlantic City, New Jersey, with the remaining weapon and the nuclear capsule aboard. After a three-month long search, neither the weapons nor any debris were located. By November 1957, the AEC was taking action to issue replacement weapons to the DOD. No public announcement of this incident was made at the time it happened.

Chuck Hansen, “The Swords of Armageddon,” Vol. VII, pp.243-244.

 

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29 July

No reported incidents.

 

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30 July

1986 - PERSHING Ia MRBM / West Germany

The warhead of the missile was broken off and damaged while the missile was being moved by a crane.

Chuck Hansen, “The Swords of Armageddon,” Vol. VII, p.292.

 

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31 July

1958 – / GENIE / White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico

An inert XW-25 warhead was flown aboard an MB-1 GENIE missile which was fired from an aircraft. No explosive or nuclear components were installed in the warhead. The mechanical and electrical components installed had an overall classification of Secret - Restricted Data.

The estimated warhead impact area was well within the WSMR boundaries and was 15 miles from the nearest road. An organized search was conducted until mid-November 1958 when the warhead was given up for lost.

Chuck Hansen, “The Swords of Armageddon,” Vol. VII, pp.251.

 

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1 - 4 August

No reported incidents.