I would think that the way those bombs were constructed, it would have been a miracle if they HAD gone off.
That isn’t to say at all that there couldn’t have been a dirty, radioactive accident.
But I doubt they would have gone off in a crash.
They are specifically designed not to detonate in a crash. The article says that for whatever reason the bombs were armed.
Who knows why they were armed flying over the continental US.
The USS Cowpens didn’t pass an inspection and the CO and Command Master Chief got fired. You out a CIA Chief of Station and life goes on - nobody fired.
You arm two thermonuclear devices over the continental US and then DROP THEM and its not clear to me what happened to the pilots, or their CO’s.