Possible Nuclear Accident
Thread Starter
Possible Nuclear Accident
Can I respectfully ask some of you who have inside military knowledge of such things (a) how true these reports are, and (b) how near were we to having it explode?
I was a commercial pilot and have little knowledge of military matters and nuclear command and control in particular.
BBC News - US plane in 1961 'nuclear bomb near-miss'
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/bo...anted=all&_r=1
I was a commercial pilot and have little knowledge of military matters and nuclear command and control in particular.
BBC News - US plane in 1961 'nuclear bomb near-miss'
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/bo...anted=all&_r=1
Last edited by Bergerie1; 21st Sep 2013 at 08:48.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
a. Probably true.
b. We are told that a nuclear explosion would have been impossible.
We know from Palomares and Greenland that weapons survived crashes without detonation.
b. We are told that a nuclear explosion would have been impossible.
We know from Palomares and Greenland that weapons survived crashes without detonation.
Thread Starter
Pontius
I know we were told that a nuclear accident leading to a nuclear explosion was impossible. But despite the many precautions that were in place I suspect we came closer to disaster than the powers-that-be have ever been willing to admit. The book suggests this was so. If there any experts out there with inside knowledge, I would very much like to know how accurate the reports in this book really are.
I know we were told that a nuclear accident leading to a nuclear explosion was impossible. But despite the many precautions that were in place I suspect we came closer to disaster than the powers-that-be have ever been willing to admit. The book suggests this was so. If there any experts out there with inside knowledge, I would very much like to know how accurate the reports in this book really are.
Maybe 50s tech didn't have the safety systems of later aircraft. I find it difficult to take in that a, for example, a 70s/80s RAFG ac involved in a uncommanded release could overide the safety devices. Or in the event of an accident, send the many signals required to arm down the line to the weapon.
It beggars belief that this weapon was being flown around the States with the crew-controlled safety breaks disabled. But there again we are dealing with a country that delivered one of its B52s to the scrapyard with a nuclear weapon accidentally left on board. I guess when you have a huge stockpile of weapons then you don't need to be too careful...
Gents,
Be careful judging from the comfort of our current position; history is all about context - the airborne alert was there 24/7 for good reason so accidents were nearly inevitable. It wasn't just the US that were a little 'fast and loose' with such weapons in this period; google the 'Violet Club' interim megaton (ish) massive fission weapon deployed in small numbers by the RAF as an emergency weapon prior to deliveries of 'productionised' fusion weapons (such as YS). The lack of safety breaks in that weapon are hair raising to say the least......but it tells you a bit about the pressures of living in that nuclear shadow.
Be careful judging from the comfort of our current position; history is all about context - the airborne alert was there 24/7 for good reason so accidents were nearly inevitable. It wasn't just the US that were a little 'fast and loose' with such weapons in this period; google the 'Violet Club' interim megaton (ish) massive fission weapon deployed in small numbers by the RAF as an emergency weapon prior to deliveries of 'productionised' fusion weapons (such as YS). The lack of safety breaks in that weapon are hair raising to say the least......but it tells you a bit about the pressures of living in that nuclear shadow.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
The other way to view it is that they had multiple safety systems and they worked.
It should also be noted that even if the last switch had been made there would have been no explosion, as the High Voltage thermal battery in the weapon had not been activated and no electric current was available to discharge the x-ray unit in the warhead.
They reviewed the system after the accident and added additional systems to add further redundancy and eventually stopped airborne alerts.
See here, as usual copy and replace the asterisk with 'o'.
http://nuclearweaponsaccidents.bl*gspot.co.uk
It should also be noted that even if the last switch had been made there would have been no explosion, as the High Voltage thermal battery in the weapon had not been activated and no electric current was available to discharge the x-ray unit in the warhead.
They reviewed the system after the accident and added additional systems to add further redundancy and eventually stopped airborne alerts.
See here, as usual copy and replace the asterisk with 'o'.
http://nuclearweaponsaccidents.bl*gspot.co.uk
The plane was on a routine flight when it began to break up over North Carolina on 23 January 1961.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Leaving aside the question of whether the bomb was or was not about to explode, does the book explain why the aircraft broke up? B52s don't tend to just break up in flight - was this a mid-air, as in Palomares, or severe CAT, or what?
The aircraft, a B-52G based at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, was on a 24-hour "Coverall" airborne alert mission on the Atlantic seaboard. Around midnight on 23–24 January 1961, it rendezvoused with a tanker for mid-air refueling. During the hook-up, the tanker crew advised the B-52 aircraft commander, Major W. S. Tulloch, that his aircraft had a leak in its right wing. The refueling was broken off, and ground control was notified of the problem. The aircraft was directed to assume a holding pattern off the coast until the majority of fuel was consumed. However when the B-52 reached its assigned position, the pilot reported that the leak had worsened and that 37,000 pounds (17,000 kg) of fuel had been lost in three minutes. The aircraft was immediately directed to return and land at the base in Goldsboro.
As it descended through 10,000 feet (3,000 m) on its approach to the airfield, the pilots were no longer able to keep the aircraft in trim and lost control of it. The captain ordered the crew to eject, which they did at 9,000 feet (2,700 m). Five men ejected and landed safely. Another ejected but did not survive the landing, and two died in the crash.[4] The third pilot of the bomber, Lt. Adam Mattocks, is the only man known to have successfully bailed out of the top hatch of a B-52 without an ejection seat.[5][6] The crew last saw the aircraft intact with its payload of two Mark 39 nuclear bombs on board.[2] The wreckage of the aircraft covered a 2-square-mile (5.2 km2) area of tobacco and cotton farmland at Faro, about 12 miles north of Goldsboro.[7]
The two nuclear bombs separated from the gyrating aircraft as it broke up between 10,000 and 2,000 feet.........
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
Bergerie, I am fairly well informed and do not wish to add further to what I said previously.
Thread Starter
Pontius
Thanks - I respect your reticence. My only interest is how good were the safety systems and how close did we really come to a nuclear explosion.
Thanks - I respect your reticence. My only interest is how good were the safety systems and how close did we really come to a nuclear explosion.
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Don't forget the Spanish one too, they are still awaiting the US to clean that up, bet it was done toot sweet States side
BBC News - Palomares bombs: Spain waits for US to finish nuclear clean-up
BBC News - Palomares bombs: Spain waits for US to finish nuclear clean-up
Last edited by NutLoose; 21st Sep 2013 at 11:26.
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Originally Posted by bergerie
My only interest is how good were the safety systems and how close did we really come to a nuclear explosion.
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That would have put a heck of a diversion on the Route 66 run.
