It’s funny a lot of strange things happened that prevented nuclear war. Miracles I think.
Which, fortunately for North Carolina, was on "safe" when the crash happened.
You see, the way it works was:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash
... except to Wikipedia (see the last paragraph in the history section).
These type incidents also highlight why such a large number of nuclear weapons are needed. Had it been a real war, the bomb may have been a dud.
Who’s got the Slim Pickens picture riding the bomb in Dr Strangelove?
Seems to me that that is why there were four fail safe mechanisms. Three failed, one worked, no detonation.
That's why you build redundancies into fail safe systems.
"One simple dynamo-technology low voltage switch stood between the United States and a major catastrophe."
And you want at least one of your safeties to be simple technology - because simple technologies are often the ones that work when the advanced technology fails.
There’s a Mark 15 nuke buried in the mud off Savannah, Ga.
It’s never been found.
Jettisoned by a B-47 in the late ‘50s.
Here is a list (with links) to a few of the known “broken arrow” incidents:
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_Arrow_%28nuclear%29#Broken_Arrow
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1950 British Columbia B-36 crash
1956 B-47 disappearance
1958 Mars Bluff, South Carolina
1958 Tybee Island mid-air collision
1961 Yuba City B-52 crash
1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash
1965 Philippine Sea A-4 incident
1966 Palomares B-52 crash[4]
1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash
If that nuke had gone off, I wonder how the Feds would have attempted to explain it. I mean sorry we make a mistake and took out a million or so people in eastern North Carolina just doesn’t slice it.
Ping
Sorry, folks; it gets much, much worse.
Regarding
"The MK39 Mod 2 bomb did not possess adequate safety for the airborne-alert role in the B-52," Parker Jones wrote.
ALL THREE aircraft-borne safety measures failed during aircraft breakup; one little switch on the bomb...
Note the footnote regarding the B53.
On that subject: The B53 was incorporated into Titan ICBM warheads as the W53, in service up through 1997, the last of which not disassembled until just under 2 years ago. Recall the Titan silo explosion on 19 Sept 1980 in Arkansas...
As late as September 1995 during Clinton the DOE explained, "...the B61-11 was not a new bomb but simply a modified version of the existing B61-7 to replace the older and unsafe B53. "There is no new mission," DOE assured."
IIn the latter-linked release, they also make the alarming statement:
"The B61-7 does meet modern safety design criteria, including electrical nuclear detonation safety.."
Translation: The B53 DID NOT meet modern safety design criteria, removed from service only in 1997 and only finally completely rendered 'safe' (all disassembled) 2 years ago October.
The government had known about safety issues in the B53 "for twenty years," Sandia Director Paul Robinson stated in 1997. But the brute force of the weapon was considered the only means for holding a few high-priority Soviet underground targets at risk, so public safety was disregarded.
Warm & fuzzy, huh?
Regards,
GtG