...the book states the cause will probably never be definitely determined--but from an outside investigation, an arming pin was probably the cause
...they wanted the current to be active before anyone jumped out....so an arming pin was inserted.....long before the doomed flight, some people said this might overheat the solenoid...just before jumping, they were supposed to pull the pin and hold on to the lanyard .....supposedly the solenoid overheated....
...
they would move the switch to the arm position, to energize the arming solenoids--but they would not be actuated until the pin was removed
....also, a LtCol Forrest said the PB4Y-1's electronic arming control board was crap- ''jury rigged appearance and evidently poor workmanship''
'''..with an arming system that's about as safe as a basketful of rattlesnakes'''
..the arming pin safety was thought of and implemented long after the initial plans--so you can see how there very well could be problems......there are problems in 2018 with technology
...also some of the other planes failed to arm/failed to blow up with the destruct button/failed to be controlled by the mother ships/etc
...this was all ''new'' science
There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON to have an arming pin, soleniod or current involved in this sort of bomb.
It MUST detonate on IMPACT - not electrically!
Having any type of electric detonator would only serve the purpose of igniting the explosives at some time before the impact.
For this type of 'Kamikaze' bomb, the explosive MUST detonate EXACTLY at the moment of IMPACT - even a few milliseconds difference would reduce the effectiveness significantly.
The IMPACT and only the IMPACT should detonate the bomb!