dept of defense - narrative summaries of accidents involving us nuclear weapons 1950-1980 - 635

7/28/2019 Dept of Defense - Narrative Summaries of Accidents Involving US Nuclear Weapons 1950-1980 - 635

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSENARRATIVE SUMMARIES OF ACCIDENTSINVOLVING U.S. NUCLEAR WEAPONS

1.950-1980

Attached are unclassif ied summaries describing the circumstances surrounding 32accidents involving nuclear weapons. Also attached is the Department of Defense(DOD)/Department of Enf:!rgy (DOE) def in i t ion of "accident" used in researching th isproject .Twenty-six of these summaries were f i r s t released by th e Air Force in 1977; anotherwas prepared following the Titan I I explosion in Arkansas in September 1980. Thosepreviously-released summaries are marked with a figure "1"; in some cases they in clude new rna t e r ia l made available as a resul t of more recent research.; ':There never ha s been even a par t ia l inadvertant U.S. nuclear detonation despite thevery severe s t resses imposed upon the weapons involved in these accidents. Alldetonations" reported in the summaries involved conventional high explosives (HE)only. Only two accidents, those at Palomares and Thule, resul ted . in a widespreaddispersal of nuclear materials .Nuclear t,veapons are never carr ied on training f l ights . Nost of the ai rcraf t acci dents represented here occurred during log is t ic / fe r ry missions or airborne a l e ~ tf l ights by Strategic Air Command (SAC) a i rcraf t . Airborne a l e r t was terminated in1968 because of:

Accidents, par t icular ly those a t Palomares and Thule,

The r is ing cost of maintaining a port ion of the SAC bomberforce constantly on airborne a le r t , and,- - The advent of a responsive and survivable in tercont inentalbal l is t ic missile force \vhich rel ieved the manned bomber force of a partof i t s more t ime-sensi t ive responsib i l i t ies . (A portion of the SACforce remains on nuclear ground a le r t . )

Since the location of a nuclear weapon i s c lass i f ied defense information, i t i sDepartment of Defense policy normally nei ther to confirm nor deny the presence ofnuclear weapons a t any specif ic place. In the case of an accident involvingnuclear weapons, the i r presence may or may not be divulged at the time dependingupon th e possib i l i ty of public hazard or alarm. Therefore, in some of the eventssummarized here, th e fact of the presence of nuclear weapons or materials may nothave been confirmed at the time. Furtherm ore, due to diplomatic considerat ions,i t is not possible to specify the location of the accidents that occurred overseas ,except for Palomares and Thule.Most of the weapon systems involved in these accidents are no longer in tite activeinventory. Those include the B-29, B-36, B-47, B-50, B-58, C-124, F-100 and P-SMa i rcraf t , and the Minuteman I miss i le .

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With some early models of nuclear weapons, i t was standard procedure during mostoperations to keep a capsule of nuclear material separate from the weapon forsafety purposes. lvnile a weapon with the capsule removed did contain a quantityof ~ a t u r a l (not enriched) uranium with an extremely low level of radioact iv i ty ,accidental detonation of the HE element would not cause a nuclear detonation orcontamination. More modern designs incorporate improved redundant safety featuresto insure that a nuclear explosion does not occur as the resul t of an accident.This l i s t of accidents was compiled by DOD/DOE researchers during December 1980-january 1981. The researchers reviewed a l l available records of the mili taryservices and DOE, applying current defin i t ions to determine i f an event \ ~ a r r a n t e dcategorizat ion as an accident .

?or example, one event not covered by these narra t ives was included in a"Chronology of Nuclear Accidenr--Statements," ::-eleased by DOD in 1968:

~ 1 a r c h 13, 1963, Titan (I) Missi le Burned in Silo near Hoses Lake, Hashing ton."The researchers found, however, tha t only a small retrorocket on the misslLe hadaccidental ly f i red . The missile and i t s warhead were not damaged. That eventdoes not warrant inclusion in a l i s t of accidents involving nuclear weapons.Another event from th e 1968 l i s t , involving a U.S. Navy Terr ier missi le (January20, 1966; NAS Mayport, Florida) was not considered to be an accident , bu t ha sbeen categorized as a s ignif icant incident . In that incident , a nuclear warheadseparated from the missi le , and fe l l about eight fee t . The warhead was dented; noother damage occurred.The other events in this l i s t that ~ . v e r e also cited in the 1968 "Chronology ..... "are ident i f ied with a figure "2".**The events outl ined in the attached narrat ives involved operat ional weapons, n u c l ~ a rmaterials, a i rc raf t and/or missiles under cont rol of the U. S. Air Force, U.S. Navy,or a DOE predecessor agency, the Atomic Energy Commission. The U.S. Army na s neverexperienced an event serious enough to warrant inclusion in a l i s t of accidentsinvolving nuclear weapons. The U.S. Marine Corps does not have custody of nuclearweapons in peacetime and has experienced no accidents or s igni f icant incidentsinvolving them.To the best of our knowledge, th is l i s t is complete. Repor.ting requirements variedamong the Services, par t icu lar ly in the ear l ie r period covered by these narratives,so i t is possible but not l ike ly that an ear l ie r accident has gone unreported here.All l a te r events, however, have been evaluated and are included i f they fa l l withinthe establ ished def in i t ion of an accident .

Current as of Apri l , 1981

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DEFINITION OF AN ACCIDENT

An "accident involving nuclear ~ v e a o o n s " is defined as-An unexpected event involving nuclear weapons or nuclear weapons componentsthat resul t s in any of the following:

--Accidental or unauthorized launching, f i r ing , or use, by U.S. :orces orsupported al l ied forces , of a nuclear-capable weapon system which could create ther isk of an outbreak of war.

--Nuclear detonat ion.--Non-nuclear detonation or burning of a nuclear weapon or radioactiveweapon component, including a ful ly assembled nuclear weapon, an unassembled nuclear

weapon, or a radioactive nuclear weapon component.--Radioact ive contamination.- -Seizure , thef t , or loss of a nuclear weapon or radioactive nuclearweapon component, including je t t i soning.--Public hazard, actual or implied.

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Februarv 13 , 1950 I B-36 j Pacific Ocean, off Coast of Brit ish ColumbiaThe B-36 was enroute from Eielson AFB to Carswell AFB on a simulated combat

profi le mission. The weapon aboard th e a i rcraf t had a dummy capsule ins ta l led .After six hours of f l igh t , th e a i rcraf t developed ser ious mechanical di f f i cu l t i es ,making i t necessary to shut down three engines. The a i rcraf t was a t 12,000 feetal t i tude . Icing condicions complicated the emergency and level f l ight could notbe maintained. The ai rcraf t headed out over the Pacific Ocean and dropped theweapon from 8,000 fee t . A bright f lash occurred on impact, followed by a soundand shock wave. Only the weapon's high explosive material detonated. The 3i r -craf t ~ . ; a s then flown over Princess Royal Island where the crew bailed ouc. Theai rcraf t wreckage was la ter found on Vancouver Island.

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April 11, 1950 I B-29 I Manzano Base, New Mexico

Aircraf t departed Kirtland AFB at 9:38 p.m. and crashed into a mountain onManzano Base approximately three minutes la te r kil l ing the crew. Detonators wereinstal led in the bomb on board the a irc ra f t . The bomb case was demolished somehigh explosive (HE) material burned in th e gasoline f i re . Other pieces of unburnedHE were scat tered throughout the wreckage. Four spare detonators in thei r carryingcase were recovered undamaged. There were no contamination or recovery problems.The recovered components of th e weapon were returned to the Atomic Energy Commission.Both th e weapon and the capsule of nuclear material were on board the a i rc raf t butthe capsule was not inserted for safety reasons. A nuclear detonation was no t pos-s ible .

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Julv 13 . 1950 I B-50 I Lebanon, Ohio

The B-50 was on a t raining mission from Biggs AFB, Texas. The a i rcraf twas flying a t 7,000 feet on a clear day. Aircraf t nosed down and flew intoth e ground ki l l ing four off icers and twelve airmen. The high explosive por-tion of th e weapon aboard detonated on impact. There was.no nuclear capsuleaboard the a i rc raf t .

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August 1950 I B-29 I Fairf ie ld Suisun-AFB. California

A B-29 carrying a weapon, but no capsule, experienced t1vo runaway propellersand landing gear re t ract ion dif f icu l t ies on takeoff from Fairfield-Suisun AFB(now Travis AFB). The aircraf t attempted an emergency landing and crashed andburned. The f ire was fought for 12-15 minutes before the weapon's high explosivematerial detonated. Nineteen crew members and rescue personnel were kil led in th ecrash and/or the result ing detonation, including General Travis.

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November 10 , 1950 I B-50 I Over Water, outside United States

Because of an in- f l ight aircraf t emergency, a weapon containing no capsuleof nuclear material was jet t isoned over water from an al t i tude of 10,500 feet .A high-explosive detonation was observed.

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March 10, 1956 I B-47 I Mediterranean Sea

The a i rc raf t was one of a f l ight of four scheduled for non-stop deploymentfrom MacDill A.FB to an overseas a ir base. Take-off from MacDill and f i r s t re -fueling were normal. The second refueling point was over the MediterraneanSea. In preparation for th i s , the f l ight penetrated solid cloud formation todescend to the refueling level of 14,000 feet . Base of the clouds was 14,500feet and vis ib i l i ty was poor. The a irc ra f t , carrying two nuclear capsules incarrying cases, never made contact with the tanker.

An extensive search fai led to locate any traces of the missing a i r c r a f ~or crew. No weapons were aboard the a irc ra f t , only two capsules of nuclearweapons material in carrying cases. A nuclear detonation was not possible.

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Julv 27, 1956 I B-47 I Overseas Base

A B-47 a i r c r a f t with no weapons aboard was on a rou t ine t ra in ing missionmaking a touch and go landing when the a i r c r a f t suddenly went out of cont ro lan d s l id off the runway, crashing in to a s to rage ig loo containing severa lnuc lea r weapons. The bombs did not burn or detonate . There were no contaminationor cleanup problems. The damaged weapons an d components were returned to theAtomic Energy Commission. The weapons tha t were involved were in s torageconf igura t ion . No capsules of nuclear mater ia l s were in the weapons or presentin the bui ld ing .

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Mav 22, 1957 I B-36 I Kirtland AFB, New Nexico

The a i rc raf t was ferrying a weapon from Biggs AFD, Texas, to Kirtland AFB.At 11:50 a.m. MST, while apprl>aching Kirtland at an al t i tude of 1,700 fee t , t ieweapon dropped from th e bomb bay taking th e homb b


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Julv 28 , 1957 I C-124 I Atlantic Ocean

Two weapons were jet t isoned from a C-124 a i rcraf t on July 28 off the eastcoast of th e United States. There were three weapons and one nuclear capsuleaboard th e aircraf t at th e time. Nuclear components were not ins ta l led in theweapons. The C-124 aircraf t was enroute from Dover AFB, Delaware when a loss ofpower from number one and two engines was experienced. Maximum power was appliedto th e remaining engines; however, level f l ight could not be maintained. At thispoint, th e decision was made to je t t i son cargo in the interes t of safety of th eai rcraf t and crew. The f i r s t weapon was jet t isoned a t 4,500 feet al t i tude . Thesecond weapon was jet t isoned at approximately 2,500 feet al t i tude. No detonationoccurred from ei ther weapon. Both weapons are presumed to have been damaged fromimpact with the ocean surface. Both weapons are presumed to have submerged almostins tant ly . The ocean varies in depth in th e area of the jet t isor i ings. Tl1e C-124landed at an ai r f ield in th e vicini ty of Atlantic City, New Jersey, with the re-maining weapon and th e nuclear capsule aboard. A search for the weapons or debrishad negative resul ts .

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October 11, 1957 I B-47 I Homestead AFB! Florida

The B-47 departed Homestead AFB short ly af te r midnight on a deploymentmission. Shortly af te r l i f to f f one of a irc ra f t ' s outr igger t i r es exploded. Thea i rc raf t crashed in an uninhabited area apprdximately 3,800 feet from th e endof th e runway. The a i rc raf t was carrying one weapon in ferry configurat ion inthe bomb bay and one nuclear capsule in a carrying case in the crew compartment.The weapon was enveloped in flames which burned and smoldered for approximatelyfour hours af te r which time i t was cooled with water. Two low order high explosive detonations occurred during the burning. The nuclear capsule and i t scarrying case were recovered in tac t and only s l ight ly damaged by heat . Approximately one-half of the weapon remained. All major components were damaged butwere ident i f iable and accounted for.

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Januarv 31, 1958 I B-47 I Overseas Base

A B-47 with one weanon in str ike configuration was making a simulated takeoffduring an exercise a le r t . ~ f u e n th e a i rc raf t reached approximately 30 knots on th erunway, th e le f t rear ~ v h e e l casting fai led. The t a i l struck the runway and a fueltank ruptured. The a i rcraf t caught f ire and burned for seven hours. Firemenfought th e f ire for th e allotted te n minutes f ire fighting time for high explosivecontents of that weapon, then evacuated th e area. The high explosive did not detonate,bu t there was some contamination in th e immediate area of the crash. After th ewreckage and th e asphalt beneath i t were removed and th e runway washed down, nocontamination was detected. One f ire truck and one fireman's clothing showed s l ightalpha contamination unti l washed. Following the accident, exercise a ler t s weretemporarily suspended and B-47 wheels were checked for defects .

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February 5, 1958 I B-47 I Savannah River, Georgia

The B-47 was on a simulated combat mission tha t originated a t HomesteadAFB, Florida. While near Savannah, Georgia, the B-47 had a mid-air col l is ion at3:30a.m. with an F-86 a i rc raf t . Following the col l i s ion the B-47 attemptedthree times to land a t Hunter AFB, Georgia, with a weapon aboard. Because oi thecondition of the a irc ra f t , i t s airspeed could not be reduced enough to insure asafe landing. Therefore, th e decision was made to je t t ison che weapon rather thanexpose Hunter AFB to the poss ibi l i ty of a high explosive detonation. A nucleardetonation was not possible s i n ~ e the nuclear capsule was not aboard th e a i rc raf t .The weapon was je t t isoned into the water several miles from th e mouth of th eSavannah River (Georgia) i.n wassaw Sound off Tybee Beach. J..ne precise weapon im-pact point i s unknown. The weapon was dropped from an al t i tude of approximately7,200 feet a t an a i rc raf t speed of 180-190 knots. No detonation occurred. Afterje t t ison th e B-47 landed safely. A three square mile area was searched using aship with divers and underwater demolition team technicians using Galvanic drag andhand-held sonar devices. The weapon was not found. The search was terminatedApril 16, 1958. The weapon was considered to be i r ret r ievably los t .

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November 4, 1958 I B-47 I Dvess AFB. Texas

A B-47 caught f ire on take-off . Three crew members successfullye]ected;"one was kil led when :i:'he' afrcraf t crashed from an al t i tude O'f 1,500 f ~ e t . Onenuclear weapon w a ~ on board when the aircraf t crashed. The resul tant detonationof the high explosive made a crater ' 3S feet in diameter and s ix feet deep.Nuclear materials weie recovered near the crash s i t e .

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November 26, 1958 I B-47 I Chennault AFB, Louisiana

A B-47 caught f i re on the ground. The single nuclear weapon on board wasdestroyed by th e f i re . Contamination was l imited to the immediate vicini ty ofth e weapon residue within the aircraf t w r ~ c k a g e .

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Januarv 18 , 1959 I F-100 I Pacif ic Base

The a i rc raf t ~ a r k e d on a ~ e v e t e d hardstand in ground a le r t configurat ion.The external load consisted of a weapon on th e i e f t intermediate s ta t ion and threefuel tanks (both inboard s ta t ions and th e r ight intermediate s tat ion) . w ~ e n th es ta r te r button was depressed during a practice a le r t , an explosion and f i re occurred when the external fuel tanks inadvertantly je t t i soned. Fire trucks at th escene put out the f ire in about seven minutes. The capsule was not in the vicini tyof the a i rc raf t and was not involved in th e accident. There were no contaminationor cleanup problems.

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Julv 6, 1959 I C-124 I Barksdale AFB, Louisiana

A C-124 on a nuclear logis t ics movement mission crashed on take-off. Thea i rcraf t was destroyed hy f ire which also destroyed one weapon. No nuclear orhigh explosive detonation occurred safety devices functioned as designed.Limited contamination was present over a very small area immediately below th edestroyed weapon. This contamination did not hamper rescue or f ire fightingoperations.

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Seotember 1959 I P-SM I Off WhidBey Island, Washington

A U.S. ~ ~ a v y P-SM aircraf t ditched in Puget Sound off Whidbey Island,Washington. I t was carrying an unarmed nuclear antisubmarine weapon con-taining no nuclear material . The weapon was not recovered.

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October 15, 1959 I B-52 I KC-135 I Hardinsberg, Kentucky

The B-52 departed Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi a t 2:30 p.m. CST,October 15, 1959. This a i rc ra f t assumed the 02 position in a f l ight of two.The KC-135 departed Columbus Air Force Base at 5:33 p.m. CST as the #2 tankera i rc ra f t in a f l ight of two scheduled to refuel the B-52's. Rendezvous for re -fueling was accomplished in the vic in i ty of Hardinsberg, Kentucky at 32,000 fee t .I t was night , weather was clear , and there was no t u r b u l e n ~ e . Shortly a f te r theB-52 began refueling from the. KC-135, the two a i rcraf t col l ided. The ins t ructorpi lo t and p i lo t of the B-52 ejected, followed by the electronic warfare off icerand the radar navigator. The co-pi lo t , navigator , ins t ructor navigator, and t a i lgunner failed to leave the B-52. All four crewmembers in the KC-135 were fa ta l lyin jured. The B-52's two unarmed nuclear weapons were recovered in tac t . One hadbeen par t ia l ly burned but th is did not r esu l t in th e dispersion of an y nuclearmaterial or other contamination.

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June 7, 1960 I BOMARC I McGuire AFB, New Jersey

A BOMARC a ir defense missile in ready storage condition (permitting launchin two minutes) was destroyed by explosion and f i re a f te r a high pressure heliumtank exploded and ruptured the missi le 's fuel tanks. Tl1e warhead was also destroyedby the f i re although the high explosive did not detonate. Nuclear safety devicesacted as designed. Contamination was restricted to an area immediately beneath th eweapon and an adjacent elongated area approximately 100 feet long, caused by drain-off of f iref ighting water.

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January 24, 1961 I B-52 I Goldsboro, North CArolina

During a B-52 airborne aler t mission s tructural failure of th e r ight wingresulted in two weapons separating from the a i rc ra f t during aircraf t breakup at2,000 - 10,000 feet al t i tude. One bomb parachute deployed and th e weapon re-ceived l i t t l e impact damage. The other bomb fe l l free and broke apart uponimpact. No explosion occurred. Five of th e eight crew members survived. Aportion of one weapon, containing uranium, could not be recovered despite ex-cavation in the waterlogged farmland to a depth of 50 fee t . The Air Force sub-sequently purchased an easement requiring permission for anyone to dig there.There is no detectable radiation and no hazard in th e area.

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March 14. 1961 I B-52 I Yuba Citv , Cali fornia

A B-52 experienced fail .ure of the. crew c o m p a r ; ' ! = m ~ p ; t . p:ressl.!l.r;izationsystem forcing descent to 10,000 f e e ~ : ~ J . ~ i t u q ; e ... n c r e a ~ e d : .f'ue1 consumptioncaused fuel exhaustion ) ~ . e f o r e r e n d e ~ v o u s i with a. tap;k:er .aircrraft . The ctew. bailedout a t 10,000 f e e . , ~ e x c e P . , ~ for the a i r c r a f t


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November 13, 1963 I Atomic Energy Commission Storage Igloo I Medina Base, Texas

An explosion involving 123,000 pounds of high explosive components of nuclearweapons caused minor in jur ies to three Atomic Energy Commission employees. Therewas l i t t l e contamination from th e nuclear components stored elsewhere in th e building.The components were from ,,bsolete weapons being disassembled.

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January 13, 1964 I B-52 I Cumberland, ~ 4 r y l a n d

A B-52D was enroute from Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts, to i t shome base a t Turner Air Force Base, Georgia. The crash occurred approximately17 miles SW of Cumberland, Maryland. The ai rcraf t was carrying two weapons.Both weapons were in a tac t ica l ferry configuration (no mechanical ore lec t r ica l connections had been made to the ai rcraf t and the safing switcheswere in the "SAFE" posit ion). Prior to the crash, the pi lo t had requesteda change of alt i tude because of severe a ir turbulence a t 29,500 feet . Theai rcraf t was cleared to climb to 33,000 feet . During the climb, the a irc ra f tencountered violent a ir turbulence and aircraf t structural failure subsequentlyoccurred. Of the five aircrew members, only the pi lo t and co-pilot survived.The gunner and navigator ejected but died of exposure to sub-zero temperaturesaf te r successfully reaching th e ground. The radar navigator did not eject anddied upon ai rcraf t impact. The crash si te was an isolated mountainous andwooded area. The s i te had 14 inches of new snow covering the ai rcraf twreckage which was scat tered over an area of approximately 100 yards square.The weather during the recovery and cleanup operation involved extreme coldand gusty winds. Both weapons remained in the ai rcraf t unt i l i t crashedand were relat ively intact in the approximate center of the wreckage area.

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December 5, 1964 I LGM 30B (Minuteman ICBM) I F.llsworth AF'B. South Dakota

The LGM 30B Minuteman I missi le was on s t rategic a le r t a t Launch Facil i ty(LF) L-02, Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. Two airmen were dispatr.hed to the Ll:i' torepair the inner zone (IZ) securi ty system. In th e midst of thei r checkout ofth e IZ system, one retrorocket in the spacer below the Reentry Vehicle (RV) f ired,causing the RV to fa l l about 75 feet to th e floor of the s i l e . When th e RV struckthe bottom of th e s i lo , the arming and fusing/alt i tude control subsystem containingthe batteries was torn loose, thus removing a l l sources of power from th e RV. TheRV structure received considerable damage. All safety d e v i c ~ s operated properly inthat they did no t sense the proper sequence of events to allow arming the warhead.There was no detonation or radioactive contamination.

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December 8, 1964 I B-58 I Bunker Hill (Now Grissom) AFB. Indiana

SAC a irc ra f t were taxiing during an exercise a le r t . As one B-58 reacheda posit ion direct ly behind th e a irc ra f t on tDe runway ahead of i t , the a i rc raf tahead brought advanced power. As a resul t of the combination of the je t blas tfrom the aircraf t a h ~ a d , th e icy runway surface condit ions, and the powerapplied to the a irc ra f t while attempting to turn onto the runway, control waslos t and the a irc ra f t sl id off the l e f t hand side of the taxiway. The l e f t mainlanding gear passed over a flush mounted taxiway l igh t f ix ture and 10 feet furtheralong in i t s t ravel , grazed the l e f t edge of a concrete l ight base. Ten feetfurther, th e l e f t main landing gear struck a concrete electr ical manhole box,and the aircraf t caught on f i re . When the a irc ra f t came to res t , a l l three crewmembers aboard began abandoning the a irc ra f t . The a irc ra f t commander and defensivesystems operator egressed with only minor injur ies . The navigator ejected in hisescape capsule, which impacted 548 feet from the a irc ra f t . He did not survive.Portions of the f ive nuclear weapons on-board burned; contamination was limited toth e immediate area of the crash and was subsequently removed.

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October 11. 1965 I C-124 I Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio

The aircraf t was being refueled in preparation for a routine logist ics missionwhen a f ire occurred at th e a f t end of th e refuel ing t r a i le r . The fuselage of theaircraf t , containing only components of nuclear weapons and a dummy t raining unit ,was destroyed by the f i re . There were no casualties. The resultant radiat ionhazard was minimal. Minor contamination was found on th e a i rc raf t , cargo andclothing of explosive ordnance disposal and f i re fight ing personnel, and wasremoved by normal cleaning.

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'December 5, 1965 I A-4 I At Sea, Pac i f ic~ ~ ; ; , ; ; . . . ; . ; ; ; , . . ; ; . . . ; ; . . . _ , ; ; ; . . . ; . _ _ ; ; ; ~ . . ; ; _ ~ - - . . . . . ; , . - ~ , . . _ - ~ - - - - - - . - !

An: A-4 ai rcraf t loaded th:: nuclear weapon ro l led off the eleva to rof a U.S. a i r c r a f t ca r r ie r a.nd f e l l into'' sea. The pi lo t , a i r craf t , andweapon were los t . The inc iden t occurred ino're than .SOO miles from land.

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January 17 , 1966 I B-52 I KC-135 I Palomares, Spain

The B-52 and th e KC-135 collided during a routine high alt i tude a ir refuel ingoperation. Both aircraf t crashed near Palomares, Spain. Four of the eleven crew-members survived. The B-52 carr ied four nuclear weapons. One was recovered on theground, and one was recovered from th e sea, on Apri l 7, af ter extensive search andrecovery effor ts . Two of th e weapons' high explosive materials exploded on impactwith the ground, releasing some radioactive materials . Approximately 1400 tons ofs l ight ly contaminated soi l and vegetation were removed to th e United States for ,storage at an approved s i te . Representatives of the Spanish government monitoredthe cleanup operation.

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Januar 21, 1968 I B-52 I Thule, Greenland'!;:'

A B-52 from Platts.p.urgh AFB, New York, c r a s h ~ d e 3 ; ~ d ~ : . b u r n ~ : d s . p ~ e : s : ~ v e n m i ~ e s

occurred in . the area o f ; : . ~ h e crash , which w.C1S, on tl:le s e a , , i c . ~ ~ ~ l < J 3 m ; n e - ~ 2,.3]-,.000 cubic

approved s torage s i - t ~ - in the. n ~ ~ t e d S t a ~ ; _ e , s _ oyer the course of ; a ' ' ~ ' f : o u r ~ m o n t h _ . : o p . e r a : - t i o n .Although an unknown amount of contaminat ion was dispersed by the cras:h,. enviro'n,.. imental sampling showed normal readings in the area a f t e r the cleanup was completed.Representat ives of the Danish government monitored the cleanup opera t ions .

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Spring 1968 I At Sea, Atlantic

Details remain classif-ied.

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September 19, 1980 I Titan II ICBM I Damascus 7 Arkansas

During routine maintenance in a Titan I I s i lo , an Air Force repairmandropped a heavy wrench socket, which rolled off a work platform and fe l ltoward th e bottom of the s i lo . The socket bounced and struck th e missile,causing a leak from a pressurized fuel tank. The missile complex and th esurrounding area were evacuated and a team of special is ts was called infrom Lit t le Rock Air Force Base, the missi le 's main support base. About8 1/2 hours af ter the i n i t i a l puncture, fuel vapors within the silo ignitedand exploded. T h e ~ , e x p ~ o s i o n fa ta l ly injured one member of th e team.Twenty-one other USAFl personnel were injured. The miss i le ' s re-entryvehicle, which contained a nuclear warhead, was recovered intact . There wasno radioactive contamination.

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dept of defense - narrative summaries of accidents involving us nuclear weapons 1950-1980 - 635

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