Atom Bomb almost detonated in NC

Nonsense, hydrogen bombs don't explode "on impact". They have to be armed first.

 

Does this article, or any of its sources, indicate whether or not the device had its nuclear pit or core installed? My quick skim found no mention of it.

Two of the four H-bombs dropped from the 1966 mid-air collision near Palomares, Spain, did detonate on impact. But they were non-nuclear explosions, effectively dirty bombs, and did cause contamination.

A web search finds multiple claims of other incidents of crashes or jettisoned bombs detonating on impact, also as non-nuclear dirty explosions.

Another bomb was lost just off the coast of Savannah Georgia in 1958, also after a mid-air collision. Last I heard, it is still missing.

 

when we're in florida in the winter, we get a free usa today every morning. and that's about what it's worth.

 

Fine, but I stand by my statement that either fission or fusion bomb will not produce nuclear explosion, as the OP hinted.

 

Nonsense...

Hey Bra... all bombs have to be armed first.

Some fuses are just more easily readied than others.

 

Ummmm... you know what you said here is quackery right Bra... and I didn't think the OP stated or hinted that.

 

I have no confidence that most news outlets would initially know to distinguish a true nuclear explosion from a conventional chemical explosion that scatters the nuclear materials as a dirty but non-nuclear bomb. My searching found references to many more accidents where the later actually did happen. But the OP article didn't provide enough detail to show whether the author understood the difference.

I had the impression, possibly unfounded, that a mechanical impact that detonates the chemical high explosive shaped charges in these bombs is very unlikely to trigger a nuclear explosion. The timing synchronization is critical, so a shock detonation starting on one side shouldn't do it. Apparently some of these bomb even had an option to explode in a non-nuclear self destruct. And some of the accidents involved devices not armed with the critical pit or core, so even a properly triggered blast would not go nuclear.

 

I grew up in Rocky Mount, NC which is about 45 miles west of Goldsboro. I never knew I came close to not being here today

 

So that's why they have 4 safeties. If any of them work then no BIG boom.

 

Thank God the Cold War is over.

What I'm more worried about is the safety protocol of newer nuclear members like India and Pakistan.

 

Just curious on which model B-52 and what caused it to fall apart?

I was a pilot in G, H, D, Fs.

 

And Iran

 

Subsequent reports from other news outlets have added some clarity. They were talking about setting off the trigger path to a real thermonuclear explosion, not a repeat of the non-nuclear detonations of the chemical explosives.

 

I'm pretty sure it was the Elephant Mountain crash in Maine, January 24, 1963 when the vertical fin came off in turbulence. I don't know the model.

Just curious, I once heard that one model B-52 had so much thrust, it could not all be used on takeoff. The claim was it would rip the wings off but this always struck me as a 'tall tale.' The claim was the plane had to have significant aerodynamic loads before full power could be used.

Bob Wilson

 

My understanding the book "Command and Control" was written by an investigative journalist, Eric Schlosser. I'll be more interested in comments from real nuclear scientist and engineers who know how the technology works. Sometimes investigative journalists 'fill in the blanks' or don't really know the facts and data.

My understanding is plutonium fission timing is critical. Extremely fast, explosives have to forge a super-critical mass before fission blows it sub-critical. I remain skeptical that some 'arming' code sequence from the aircraft can be spoofed if the aircraft crashes or disintegrates in flight. This is why I would prefer to see a real nuclear weapons response or critique of this book.

Bob Wilson

 

1961 had to be an older B-52 C or E model and maybe a D. Tall tails.

The G and H where short tails and the H had 8 large fan jets. H is still in use.

 

That article must be making the media rounds. It appeared in our local newspaper this morning.