Friday, April 5, 2013

Some More on the Big US "Oops!": Two Nuclear Bombs Come Crashing Down in Wayne County, NC-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

Sure would have liked to have gone to Mr. Dobson's talk on March 9th at the Wayne County Museum.

1961 Goldsboro B-52 Crash.

I just remembered we were living in Greenville, NC, at the time, probably about 20-25 miles from the site.  That would have been one intense thing for us.

A B-52 Stratofortress carrying two Mark 39 bombs, broke up in mid-air dropping its nuclear payload in the process.  Five crew members survived parachuting, another was killed in the process of parachuting and two others died in the crash.

The plane was on a 24-hour "coverall" airborne alert mission on the Atlantic seaboard when it happened.  During a mid-air refueling, the tanker plane observed a leak in the B-52's right wind and broke off fueling.  The leak got worse and the plane was ordered to land at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldboro.

More to Come.  --Cooter

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