The Tybee Island B-47 crash was an incident on February 5, 1958, in which the United States Air Force lost 7,600-pound (3,400 kg) Mark 15 nuclear bombs in waters off Tybee Island near Savannah, Georgia, USA Union. During practice, F-86 fighters collided with B-47 bombers carrying bombs. To protect the flight crew from possible explosions in the event of a collision, the bomb was discarded. After several failed searches, the bomb was allegedly missing somewhere in Wassaw Sound off the coast of Tybee Island.
Video 1958 Tybee Island mid-air collision
Midair collision
The B-47 bomber simulated a combat mission from Homestead Air Force Base in Florida. It carries a single 7,600 pound (3,400 kg) bomb. At about 2:00 am, F-86 fighters collided with B-47s. F-86 crashed after pilot out of plane. The damaged B-47 remained in the air, falling 18,000 feet (5,500 m) from the 380 (38,000 ft) flight level when Major Richardson regained control of the flight.
The crew asked permission to dispose of the bombs, to reduce weight and prevent explosive bombs during emergency landing. Permission was granted, and the bomb was dumped at an altitude of 2,200 feet (2,200 m) while the bomber traveled at a speed of about 200 knots (370 km/h). The crew did not see the explosion when the bomb hit the sea. They successfully landed the B-47 safely at the nearest base, Hunter Air Force Base. The pilot, Colonel Howard Richardson, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross after this incident.
Maps 1958 Tybee Island mid-air collision
Bomb
Some sources describe the bomb as a functional nuclear weapon, but others describe it as a disabled person. If the bomb has a nuclear core plutonium attached, it is a fully functional weapon. If the bomb had a stuffed core inserted, it could not produce a nuclear explosion but could still produce a conventional explosion. The 15-foot (4 m) Mark Bombs weigh 7,700 lbs (3,400 kg) and bear the serial number 47782. It contains 400 pounds (180 kg) of conventional high-explosive and highly enriched uranium. The Air Force declared that the nuclear capsule bomb, used to start a nuclear reaction, was removed before its flight on an B-47 aircraft. As noted in the Atomic Energy Commission "Form AL-569 Temporary Custodian Receipt (for maneuvering)", signed by the aircraft commander, a bomb containing a 150-pound simulated cap is made of lead. However, according to the 1966 Congressional testimony by then Assistant Secretary of Defense W. Howard, the Tybee Island bomb was a "complete weapon, a bomb with a nuclear capsule", and one of the two missing weapons of that time that contained plutonium triggers. Nevertheless, the study of Strategic Air Command documents shows that in February 1958, the Alert Force flight test (with an older Mark 15 load) was not allowed to fly with a nuclear capsule on the plane. Such agreements await the safer installation of safer nuclear weapons, which did not begin deploying until June 1958.
If nuclear explosions have occurred, the possible explosive effects will include fireballs with a 1.2-mile (2 km) radius and thermal radiation causing third-degree burns to ten times that distance.
Restore attempt
Beginning on February 6, 1958, Air Force Squadron Squadron Air Force Squadron 2700 and 100 Navy personnel equipped with hand-held sonar and drag buffer and galvanized cable fitted search. On April 16, the military announced the search was unsuccessful. Based on a hydrological survey, the bomb was considered by the Department of Energy to be buried under 5 to 15 feet (2 to 5 m) of mud at the base of Wassaw Sound.
In 2004, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Derek Duke claimed to have narrowed the possibility of a bomb break point to a small area the size of a football field. He and his partner found the area by boarding their boat with a Geiger counter behind him. Secondary radioactive particles four times the rate that occurs naturally are detected and mapped, and where the origin of the radiation is triangulated. Subsequent investigations found the source of the radiation is natural, derived from monazite deposits.
Ongoing issues
In 2007, no unusual levels of radioactive contamination had been detected in the regional Florid River aquifers by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (above and above predicted levels due to monazite, naturally radioactive sand).
In popular culture
In February 2015, a satirical news website published an article stating that the bomb was discovered by Canadian diver vacationers and that the bomb had been removed from the bay. False stories are widespread through social media.
Collisions and consequently also push the flow of novels, Three Chords & amp; The Truth , by Craig McDonald published in November 2016.
See also
- Broken Arrow
- List of military nuclear accidents
Note
References
External links
- Tybeebomb.com, Site information about Tybee Bombs
- The Missing American Bomb, Marabella Productions & amp; Discovery Science Channel Documentary on Tybee Bombs (2007)
- NPR, For 50 Years, Missing Nuclear Bomb in Aquatic Tombs (February 3, 2008)
- BBC News, Missing for 50 years - US nuclear bomb (June 22, 2009)
- Nuclear Information Project, Nuclear Bomb Down in Georgia; No Nuclear Capsule Inserted, Documents Show (2004)
- Strategic-Air-Command.com, Nuclear Bomb Chart, including Mark 15
- Pursuing Nuclear Loose by Colonel Derek Duke (as told to Fred Dungan)
- Broken Arrow, BBC audio program in Tybee Bomb, streaming audio
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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