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Aviation History
1981
1981 - 2194.PDF
42 FLIGHT International. 4 July 1981 US accidents February 13, 1950 A Convair B-36 en route from Eielson AFB, Alaska, to Carswell AFB, Texas, developed engine trouble and descended into icing conditions at 8,000ft after three engines were shut down. The weapon, containing a dummy nuclear capsule, was jettisoned into the Pacific off British Columbia. The HE element detonated. The B-36 crashed on Van couver Island after the crew aban doned it over Prince Royal Island. April 11, 1950 A Boeing B-29 left Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, at 21.30hr and crashed into a mountain at Man- zano Base three minutes later, killing the crew. The bomb case was demolished and the HE burned in the post-crash fire. The nuclear capsule was not fitted and there was no con tamination. July 13, 1950 A Boeing B-50 on a training flight from Biggs AFB, Texas, was flying at 7,000ft on a clear day near Lebanon, Ohio. The aircraft nosed over suddenly and flew into the ground, killing the 16-man crew. The weapon's HE detonated but no nuclear capsule was aboard. August 5, 1950 A Boeing B-29 carry ing a weapon but no capsule had two runaway propellers and was unable to retract the undercarriage on take off from Fairchild-Suisun AFB, Cali fornia. The B-29 crashed and burned. Nineteen aircrew and rescue person nel were killed (including Gen Travis, after whom the base was renamed). The weapon's HE element detonated 12-15min after the crash. November 10, 1950 A Boeing B-50 on an overwater flight outside the United States area jettisoned a weapon from 10,500ft. The store did not have its nuclear capsule fitted and the HE was seen to detonate. March 10, 1956 One of four Boeing B-47s on a non-stop flight from MacDill AFB, Florida, to "an overseas base" failed to make its second tanker rendezvous over the Mediterranean. The B-47 had on board two nuclear capsules in carrying cases, but no HE element. Despite an intensive search, no trace of the aircraft or crew was found. July 27, 1956 An unarmed Boeing B-47 Stratojet practising roller land ings at RAF Lakenheath, England, went out of control and slid off the runway into the bomb dump. The ensuing fire enveloped a storage igloo containing several nuclear weapons in storage configuration (no capsules present). The weapons' HE elements did not detonate; the B-47 crew died in the accident. March 22, 1957 A Convair B-36 was ferrying from Biggs AFB. Texas, to Kirtland AFB, New Mexico. A crew man was releasing the carriage lock ing pin, standard procedure before take-off and landing to permit emer gency weapon jettisoning. As he was removing the pin, the weapon and its capsule, which was not inserted, re leased and fell from the B-36 taking the bomb-bay doors with it. The bomb fell 1,700ft and impacted at 11.30 Mountain Time 4-5 n.m. south of Kirtland's control tower, 0-3 n.m. west of Sandia Base Reservation. The bomb's HE detonated, blowing out a crater 12ft deep and 25ft in diameter. The blast scattered debris and frag ments as far as one mile from the crater. A radiological survey showed no radioactivity beyond the lip of the crater, where the level was 0 • 5 milli- roentgens. A spokesman said: "There are no health or safety problems." July 28, 1957 A Douglas C-124 Globe- master from Dover AFB, Delaware, with three weapons and a separate capsule as cargo, lost two engines while flying over the Atlantic. The C-124 could not maintain height until two of the weapons were jettisoned, one at 4,500ft, the other at 2,500ft. No HE detonation occurred and a search failed to find the weapons. The C-124 landed at an airport near Atlantic City, New Jersey, with the remaining weapon and capsule. October 11, 1957 A B-47 at an over seas base was taking off with one weapon in the strike configuration when the aircraft's port-rear wheel casing failed at 30kt. The Stratojet's tail hit the runway and a fuel tank ruptured. The aircraft burned for seven hours after the firecrew evacuated the area, ten minutes after the crash. The HE did not detonate but there was "some contamination" in the area of the crash. No contami nation was detected after the wreck age and runway asphalt were removed and the area washed down. One fire truck and one fireman's suit showed slight Alpha contamination until washed. B-47 exercise alerts were temporarily suspended pending a check on B-47 wheels. February 5, 1958 A B-47 on a simu lated combat mission from Homestead AFB, California, collided at 03.30hr near Savannah, Georgia, with an F-86 Sabre. The B-47, with no nuclear capsule aboard, made three attempts to land at Hunter AFB, Georgia, but could not get down to a safe landing speed due to structural damage and the weight of the weapon. The bomb was jettisoned from 7,200ft at 180- 190kt, several miles from the Savan nah River estuary, off Tybee Beach. The store's HE did not detonate and the B-47 landed safely. Divers with hand-held sonar searched a three-mile area of the Wassaw Sound for over a month, but the weapon was not found. March 11, 1958 The number three in a flight of four B-47s en route from Hunter AFB, Georgia, to an overseas base, accidentally jettisoned a weapon with no capsule, after levelling off at 15,000ft. The weapon impacted 6'2 n.m. east of Florence, South Carolina, and the HE detonated, causing several injuries on the ground and damaging property. The B-47 returned to base. November 4, 1958 A B-47 caught fire on take-off from Dyess AFB, Texas. Three crewmen ejected at 1,500ft, while the fourth was killed in the crash. The armed weapon's HE detonated forming a crater 35ft in diameter and six feet deep. "Nuclear materials were recovered near the crash site." November 26, 1958 A B-47 caught fire on the ground at Chennault AFB, Louisiana. The single nuclear weapon aboard was destroyed. Contamination was limited to the immediate vicinity of the weapon residue within the B-47's wreckage. January 18, 1959 An F-100 Super Sabre on ground alert at a Pacific base caught fire when the drop tanks were accidentally jettisoned as the aircraft was started. The fourth pylon was loaded with an unarmed nuclear weapon. The fire was put out after seven minutes. The capsule was "not in the aircraft's vicinity." July 6, 1959 A C-124 Globemaster, transporting a nuclear weapon, crashed on take-off at Barksdale AFB Louisiana. No detonation occurred but "limited" contamination was present over a very small area imme diately underneath the destroyed weapon. September 25, 1959 A US Navy P-5M Marlin ditched in Paget Sound, off Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, Washington. An unarmed nuclear anti-submarine weapon on board was not recovered. The weapon did not contain any radioactive materials at the time of the crash. October 15, 1959 A B-52 carrying two unarmed weapons collided with a KC-135 over Hardingsburg, Kentucky, while refuelling at night. The acci dent occurred in clear weather at 32,000ft. Four of the B-52 crew ejected, the other four were killed, as was the four-man crew of the tanker. The two weapons were re covered, but one was partially burned. June 7, 1960 A Bomarc surface-to- air missile in ready-storage condition at McGuire AFB, New Jersey, was destroyed by fire after a high-pressure helium tank exploded and ruptured the fuel tanks. The warhead was also destroyed but there was no HE detonation. Contamination was res tricted to an area underneath the weapon and an adjacent area about 100ft long where firefighting water was drained off. January 24, 1961 A B-52 on airborne alert broke up at 10,000ft over Goldboro, North Carolina, after struc tural failure of the right wing. The two nuclear weapons on board sep arated from the wreckage. One weapon's parachute deployed and it suffered little damage. The other weapon fell free and broke up on impact. A part of the weapon, which contained uranium, could not be recovered despite excavation of the waterlogged farmland to a depth of 50ft. The USAF subsequently pur-
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