SIR - I should like to comment, albeit belatedly on Dr David Baker's article `The Ultimate Sanction', February 1999, page 84. The author refers to "production of the B36 bomb, a weapon with a yield of 15-25 MT in service between 1956 and late 1961." The bomb was actually the Mk 17 and had a maximum yield of 20 MT, the most powerful thermonuclear weapon to go into service. It weighed approximately 42,000lb (19,050kg) and was only carried by the Convair B-36 Peacemaker, which could carry two in tandem in the bomb baby.

On May 22, 1957, an operational MK 17 was inadvertely dropped by a B-36 coming in to land at Kirkland AFB, New Mexico. The bomb broke through the closed bomb bay doors and fell into a field. The high explosive content detonated, creating a crater 25ft (8m) in diameter and 12ft (4m) deep, killing a hapless cow. Fortunately, at that time, the initiator was carried seperately in the aircraft and was only inserted in the bomb when approaching the target area. This event was not disclosed to the public until the late 1980s and then only to local newspapers.

My apologies for not writing sooner on this subject. I trust that to the historian, six years is but as yesterday.

Leonard E. Capon
Mesa, AZ, USA

source> AIR INTERNATIONAL/December 2005 page 66

DOH!

And people sometimes whinge about all the safety precautions and checklists.

Now there's an oopsie!

Yeah, a lot of bad things happened from 1945 - 1991 in the US, I wonder how long till we know what happened in the former USSR during that same time period.

did they not drop another H bomb some where in Mississipi river in the late 50s?

I saw a discovery channel show in which a group of divers had to go and find the bomb and bring it back

Well, that happened once off the coast of Spain, not so sure about the Mississippi River.

Dear Member,

Following is a message I got from a retired B-52 pilot about the H-bomb dropped in NM. As to the nuclear weapon being dropped Mississippi, it was not Mississippi River but off of the Georgia cost near Savanah. Divers have hunted and hunted for that H-bomb but have never found it. They believe has sunk over time hundreds of feet in the marsh mud. It was lost when a B-47 hit another aircraft when coming in for a landing.

Jack E. Hammond

As is quite often the case in such letters while the basic facts are there many of the details aren't quite right. The racks were unlocked for take off and landing in order that that huge weight could be jettisoned in an emergency. The navigator sent into the bomb bay to unlock the rack did so but had also inadvertantly applied pressure to a short unguarded section of the manual jettison cable prior to unlocking the rack. When the rack was unlocked the weapon was released. A single point detonation of the HE initiator ensued upon contact, scattering nuclear material around beside making a crater. The nuclear "pit" was with the bomb but the MK 17 was an early weapon with automatic IFI (in flight insertion" meaning that unless armed there could be no nuclear detonation. As for the incident not being knownuntil the 1980s, the massive clean up on land owned by the University hardly went unnoticed!

Regards,
Wayne