January 24, 1961: >> A B-52 Stratofortress carrying two Mark 39 nuclear bombs broke up in mid-air, dropping its nuclear payload in the process.[2] The pilot in command ordered the crew to eject at 9,000 feet (2,700 m). Five men successfully ejected or bailed out of the aircraft and landed safely. Another ejected but did not survive the landing, and two died in the crash.[3] Controversy continues to surround the event as information newly declassified in 2013 reinforced long-held public suspicions that one of the bombs came very close to detonating.
... The two 3-4 megaton[a] MK. 39 nuclear bombs separated from the gyrating aircraft as it broke up between 1,000 and 2,000 feet (300 and 610 m). Five of the six arming mechanisms on one of the bombs activated, causing it to execute many of the steps needed to arm itself, such as charging the firing capacitors and, critically, deployment of a 100-foot-diameter (30 m) retard parachute. The parachute allowed that bomb to hit the ground with little damage.
...
The second bomb plunged into a muddy field at around 700 miles per hour (310 m/s) and disintegrated without detonation of its conventional explosives. The tail was discovered about 20 feet (6.1 m) below ground. Pieces of the bomb were recovered.[12][page needed] According to nuclear weapons historian Chuck Hansen, although the bomb was partially armed when it left the aircraft, an unclosed high-voltage switch had prevented it from fully arming.[8] In 2013, ReVelle [the bomb disposal expert brought in to disarm the devices] recalled the moment the second bomb's switch was found. “Until my death I will never forget hearing my sergeant say, 'Lieutenant, we found the arm/safe switch.' And I said, 'Great.' He said, 'Not great. It’s on arm.'”[13]
Excavation of the second bomb was abandoned as a result of uncontrollable ground-water flooding. Most of the thermonuclear stage, containing uranium and plutonium, was left in place, but the "pit" or core of the bomb had been dislodged and was removed .[13] The United States Army Corps of Engineers purchased a 400 feet (120 m) circular easement over the buried component.[14][15] The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill determined the buried depth of the secondary component to be 180 feet (55 m), plus or minus 10 feet (3.0 m).[12][page needed]
... ReVelle, speaking to a writer in 2011 of the bomb that he said nearly detonated: “As far as I’m concerned we came damn close to having a Bay of North Carolina. The nuclear explosion would have completely changed the Eastern seaboard if it had gone off.”[9] He also said the size of each bomb was more than 250 times the destructive power of the Hiroshima bomb, and large enough to have a 100% kill zone of seventeen miles. Each bomb would exceed the yield of all munitions (outside of testing) ever detonated in the history of the world by TNT, gunpowder, conventional bombs, and the Hiroshima and Nagasaki blasts combined.[13] << ---- 1961 Goldsboro B-52 Crash
Map: the fallout could have reached New York City:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash
(from here)
.... seventeen years later on the same date in '78, the Soviet satellite Kosmos 954, carrying a nuclear reactor, malfunctioned and burned up in the atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over the Northwest Territories of western Canada.
... The two 3-4 megaton[a] MK. 39 nuclear bombs separated from the gyrating aircraft as it broke up between 1,000 and 2,000 feet (300 and 610 m). Five of the six arming mechanisms on one of the bombs activated, causing it to execute many of the steps needed to arm itself, such as charging the firing capacitors and, critically, deployment of a 100-foot-diameter (30 m) retard parachute. The parachute allowed that bomb to hit the ground with little damage.
...
The second bomb plunged into a muddy field at around 700 miles per hour (310 m/s) and disintegrated without detonation of its conventional explosives. The tail was discovered about 20 feet (6.1 m) below ground. Pieces of the bomb were recovered.[12][page needed] According to nuclear weapons historian Chuck Hansen, although the bomb was partially armed when it left the aircraft, an unclosed high-voltage switch had prevented it from fully arming.[8] In 2013, ReVelle [the bomb disposal expert brought in to disarm the devices] recalled the moment the second bomb's switch was found. “Until my death I will never forget hearing my sergeant say, 'Lieutenant, we found the arm/safe switch.' And I said, 'Great.' He said, 'Not great. It’s on arm.'”[13]
Excavation of the second bomb was abandoned as a result of uncontrollable ground-water flooding. Most of the thermonuclear stage, containing uranium and plutonium, was left in place, but the "pit" or core of the bomb had been dislodged and was removed .[13] The United States Army Corps of Engineers purchased a 400 feet (120 m) circular easement over the buried component.[14][15] The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill determined the buried depth of the secondary component to be 180 feet (55 m), plus or minus 10 feet (3.0 m).[12][page needed]
... ReVelle, speaking to a writer in 2011 of the bomb that he said nearly detonated: “As far as I’m concerned we came damn close to having a Bay of North Carolina. The nuclear explosion would have completely changed the Eastern seaboard if it had gone off.”[9] He also said the size of each bomb was more than 250 times the destructive power of the Hiroshima bomb, and large enough to have a 100% kill zone of seventeen miles. Each bomb would exceed the yield of all munitions (outside of testing) ever detonated in the history of the world by TNT, gunpowder, conventional bombs, and the Hiroshima and Nagasaki blasts combined.[13] << ---- 1961 Goldsboro B-52 Crash
Map: the fallout could have reached New York City:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash
(from here)
.... seventeen years later on the same date in '78, the Soviet satellite Kosmos 954, carrying a nuclear reactor, malfunctioned and burned up in the atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over the Northwest Territories of western Canada.
