The plane literally broke apart and there was wreckage spread over a two square mile area near Goldsboro.
The two nuclear bombs separated from the plane as it broke up. Five of the six arming mechanisms on one activated, causing it to take steps to arm itself. It parachuted to the ground. See picture.
The second hit a muddy field at around 700 miles per hour and essentially disintegrated. Its tail was discovered 20 feet deep. Efforts to get its uranium out failed and it was left where it was (which is very disconcerting).
Each bomb possessed 250 times more destructive power than the Hiroshima bomb and an effective kill zone of 17 miles.
On July 2012, a North Carolina historical marker was erected at the town of Eureka, 3 miles north of the crash site. The title on the sign? "Nuclear Mishap."
Like I Said, "Oops!" --DaCoot
Showing posts with label nuclear weapons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nuclear weapons. Show all posts
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
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
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Duck and Cover Back in the '60s
I remember back in grade school having practice for possible nuclear disaster occuring while our young selves were in school.
We were instructed to get under our desks and assume the head down, butt in the air position. I'm just so positive this would have saved my young life had one of those nuclear bombs gone off a few hundred yards or even several miles away.
Of course, talk about your childhood trauma, even just having to practice for it. I tell you it's a wonder all of us didn't have mental problems about it. And worse of all, we could not have contacted our parents on our cell phones to say, "So Long Mom, I'm Off to Be Obliterated."
And no one could have texted their friends or uploaded to You Tube.
I Tell You, It's More Than a Child Should Have to Deal With!! Wonder What Tom Lehrer Would Have Said? --Cooter
We were instructed to get under our desks and assume the head down, butt in the air position. I'm just so positive this would have saved my young life had one of those nuclear bombs gone off a few hundred yards or even several miles away.
Of course, talk about your childhood trauma, even just having to practice for it. I tell you it's a wonder all of us didn't have mental problems about it. And worse of all, we could not have contacted our parents on our cell phones to say, "So Long Mom, I'm Off to Be Obliterated."
And no one could have texted their friends or uploaded to You Tube.
I Tell You, It's More Than a Child Should Have to Deal With!! Wonder What Tom Lehrer Would Have Said? --Cooter
Wayne County's Close Call With Nuclear Disaster-- Part 2: New Meaning to "Big Bang"
From the Wayne County Museum pamphlet.
"Joel Dobson will speak about the January 24th 1961 crash of a nuclear weapons-equipped B-52 bomber in northeastern Wayne County. One bomb was fully recovered but the bomb disposal unit could not locate the uranium of the second device. Each bomb was 250 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb and, if detonated, would have killed all people within a seventeen mile radius.
Mr. Dobson is author of "The Goldsboro Broken Arrow." Signed copies will be available for purchase."
That would be an interesting book. I had just heard of this incident in passing and would have liked to see the presentation, but it was March 9th and I wasn't there.
Couldn't you have imagined a local resident waking up in the morning and finding a bomb that size in his back yard. Wonder what his first words would have been?
"I've Told That Neighbor Time and Again Not to Go Dropping His Stuff in My Yard!!" --DaCoot
"Joel Dobson will speak about the January 24th 1961 crash of a nuclear weapons-equipped B-52 bomber in northeastern Wayne County. One bomb was fully recovered but the bomb disposal unit could not locate the uranium of the second device. Each bomb was 250 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb and, if detonated, would have killed all people within a seventeen mile radius.
Mr. Dobson is author of "The Goldsboro Broken Arrow." Signed copies will be available for purchase."
That would be an interesting book. I had just heard of this incident in passing and would have liked to see the presentation, but it was March 9th and I wasn't there.
Couldn't you have imagined a local resident waking up in the morning and finding a bomb that size in his back yard. Wonder what his first words would have been?
"I've Told That Neighbor Time and Again Not to Go Dropping His Stuff in My Yard!!" --DaCoot
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Back in 2011, Dismantling America's Most powerful Nuclear Bomb
From October 25, 2011, AP
Always good news when another nuclear weapon is dismantled, but always cause for thought when it's one of ours.
This last one was 600 times stronger than the one used at Hiroshima. It is being dismantled VERY CAREFULLY, let's hope, a half century after it was put into the arsenal at the height of the Cold War.
It is the B53 and its fuel components were being broken down at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. No doubt this made those folk there and along Route 66 feel good.
It was made in 1962 and weighed 10,000 pounds and was the size of a minivan. The 9 megaton bomb was carried by B-52s and was designed to destroy facilities deep underground. Now, our biggest nuclear device is the 1.2 megaton B83 bomb.
The bomb was made using older technology and by engineers who have since retired or died so a system of disassemble had to be developed. The era of the really big megaton bombs, where size and destruction capacity made up for lack of accuracy, is over. Today's bombs are smaller and much more precise.
Most of the B53s were disassembled in the 1980s, but a significant number remained.
I'm not sure if this was the last one or whether there are still others.
Since I Didn't Hear of Any Nuclear Explosions I Have to Figure They Were Successful. --Cooter
Always good news when another nuclear weapon is dismantled, but always cause for thought when it's one of ours.
This last one was 600 times stronger than the one used at Hiroshima. It is being dismantled VERY CAREFULLY, let's hope, a half century after it was put into the arsenal at the height of the Cold War.
It is the B53 and its fuel components were being broken down at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. No doubt this made those folk there and along Route 66 feel good.
It was made in 1962 and weighed 10,000 pounds and was the size of a minivan. The 9 megaton bomb was carried by B-52s and was designed to destroy facilities deep underground. Now, our biggest nuclear device is the 1.2 megaton B83 bomb.
The bomb was made using older technology and by engineers who have since retired or died so a system of disassemble had to be developed. The era of the really big megaton bombs, where size and destruction capacity made up for lack of accuracy, is over. Today's bombs are smaller and much more precise.
Most of the B53s were disassembled in the 1980s, but a significant number remained.
I'm not sure if this was the last one or whether there are still others.
Since I Didn't Hear of Any Nuclear Explosions I Have to Figure They Were Successful. --Cooter
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Fiftieth Anniversary of 1963-- Part 4: Civil Rights-- Nuclear Weapons
JUNE 11TH
Standing in a doorway, Alabama Governor George Wallace blocks the enrollment of Vivian Malone and James Hood, the first black students at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Wallace steps aside when President Kennedy mobilizes National Guard troops to the scene.
JUNE 11TH
Following the confrontation in Alabama. President Kennedy delivers his landmark civil rights address, "I am, therefore, asking the Congress to enact legislation giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public--hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores and similar establishments. This seems to me to be an elementary right.
Eleven months later, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became law.
AUGUST 5TH
The United States, United Kingdom and Soviet Union sign the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The treaty signing follows nearly a decade of negotiations aimed at slowing down the arms race and limiting the effect of nuclear testing on the atmosphere and environment. The signing comes one day before the 18th anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima near the end of World War II.
Something we can all live with.
All Big Events. --Cooter
Standing in a doorway, Alabama Governor George Wallace blocks the enrollment of Vivian Malone and James Hood, the first black students at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Wallace steps aside when President Kennedy mobilizes National Guard troops to the scene.
JUNE 11TH
Following the confrontation in Alabama. President Kennedy delivers his landmark civil rights address, "I am, therefore, asking the Congress to enact legislation giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public--hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores and similar establishments. This seems to me to be an elementary right.
Eleven months later, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became law.
AUGUST 5TH
The United States, United Kingdom and Soviet Union sign the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The treaty signing follows nearly a decade of negotiations aimed at slowing down the arms race and limiting the effect of nuclear testing on the atmosphere and environment. The signing comes one day before the 18th anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima near the end of World War II.
Something we can all live with.
All Big Events. --Cooter
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