Просмотр кода страницы Английская Википедия:1950 British Columbia B-36 crash

{{Английская Википедия/Панель перехода}}
{{Short description|USAAF crash and loss of nuclear bomb}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
| occurrence_type = Accident
| image = Convair B-36B Peacemaker of the 7th Bombardment Wing in flight, in 1949 (176246696).jpg
| alt = 
| caption = A [[Convair B-36 Peacemaker|Convair B-36B]] from the same [[7th Bomb Wing#B-36 era|7th Bombardment Wing]] as the [[United States Air Force|USAF]] plane involved in the accident.
| date = 13-14 February 1950
| type = Engine failure
| site = [[Mount Kologet]], [[British Columbia]], Canada
| coords = {{coord|56|1|27.61|N|128|37|11.91|W|display=inline,title|scale:50000_region:CA-BC}}
| passengers = 1
| crew = 16
| fatalities = 5
| injuries = 
| missing = 
| survivors = 12
| aircraft_type = [[Convair B-36 Peacemaker|Convair B-36B]]
| tail_number = 44-92075
| aircraft_name = 
| operator = [[United States Air Force]]
| origin = [[Eielson Air Force Base]]<br>near [[Fairbanks, Alaska]], <br>United States
| stopover = 
| stopover0 = 
| last_stopover = 
| destination = [[Carswell Air Force Base]] in [[Fort Worth, Texas]]
}}

Sometime after midnight on 14 February 1950, a [[Convair B-36 Peacemaker|Convair B-36B]], United States Air Force Serial Number ''44-92075'' assigned to the US [[7th Bombardment Wing, Heavy]] at [[Carswell Air Force Base]] in Texas, crashed in northwestern [[British Columbia]] on [[Mount Kologet]] after jettisoning a [[Mark 4 nuclear bomb]].<ref name="Septer2016">{{cite book
  |author=Dirk Septer
  |title=Lost Nuke: The Last Flight of Bomber 075
  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-_ArDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA218
  |year=2016
  |edition=Revised
  |publisher=Heritage House Publishing Co
  |isbn=9781772031287
  |ref={{harvid|Septer|2016}}
  |pages=93–94
}}</ref> This was the first such [[United States military nuclear incident terminology|nuclear weapon loss]] in history.<ref name="Clearwater2015" >{{cite journal
  |last1=Clearwater|first1=John M.
  |title=The first one to get away
  |journal=[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]
  |volume=60  |issue=6
  |year=2015
  |pages=22–27
  |issn=0096-3402
  |doi=10.1080/00963402.2004.11460832
  |s2cid=143768224
 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2968/060006008
|url-access=subscription
  }}</ref> The B-36B had been en route from [[Eielson Air Force Base]] near [[Fairbanks, Alaska]] to Carswell AFB, more than 3,000 miles southeast, on a mission that included a simulated nuclear attack on [[San Francisco]].<ref name="Clearwater2015" />

== Incident ==
Convair B-36B ''44-92075'' was flying on a simulated nuclear strike combat mission against the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="Dorr1997">{{cite book
  |author=Robert F. Dorr|title=7th Bombardment Group/Wing, 1918–1995
  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OffcIutYJeIC&pg=PA208|date=1 January 1997|publisher=Turner Publishing Company|isbn=978-1-56311-278-2|pages=208–}}</ref><ref name="Jenkins2001">{{cite book|author=Dennis R. Jenkins|title=Magnesium Overcast: The Story of the Convair B-36|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RtgeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA150|date=18 October 2001|publisher=Specialty Press|isbn=978-1-58007-201-4|pages=150–
}}</ref> The B-36 took off on 13 February 1950 from Eielson AFB with a regular crew of 15 plus a Weaponeer and a Bomb Commander. The plan for the 24-hour flight was to fly over the North Pacific, due west of the [[Southeast Alaska|Alaska panhandle]] and [[British Columbia]], then head inland over [[Washington (state)|Washington]] state and [[Montana]]. Here the B-36 would climb to {{convert|40000|ft}} for a simulated bomb run to southern California and then San Francisco, it would continue its non-stop flight to Fort Worth, Texas. The flight plan did not include any penetration of Canadian [[airspace]]. The aircraft carried a [[Mark 4 nuclear bomb|Mark 4]] atomic bomb, containing a substantial quantity of [[natural uranium]] and {{convert|5000|lb}} of conventional [[explosive]]s.<ref name="Rhodes2012">{{cite book|author=Richard Rhodes|title=The Making of the Atomic Bomb: 25th Anniversary Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2G2TlJOhGI8C&pg=PA798|date=12 June 2012|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-4516-7761-4|page=657}} (Mk 3 and Mk 4 explosives were similar)</ref> According to the USAF, the bomb did not contain the [[plutonium core]] necessary for a nuclear detonation.<ref name="Clearwater2015" />

Cold weather ({{convert|-40|F|disp=x|4=/}} on the ground at Eielson AFB) adversely affected the aircraft involved in this exercise, and some minor difficulties with ''44-92075'' were noted before takeoff. Seven hours into the flight, three of the six piston engines began shooting flames and were shut down, and the other three piston engines proved incapable of delivering full power. The subsequent investigation blamed [[carburetor icing|ice buildup]] in the carburetor air intakes.<ref name="Clearwater2015" />

The crew decided to abandon the aircraft because it could not stay aloft with three engines out of commission while carrying a heavy payload. The atomic bomb was jettisoned and detonated in mid-air, resulting in a large conventional explosion over the [[Inside Passage]]. The USAF later stated that the fake practice core on board the aircraft was inserted into the weapon before it was dropped.<ref name="Clearwater2015" />

The aircraft had been in regular radio contact with [[Strategic Air Command]] headquarters at [[Offutt Air Force Base|Offutt AFB]], [[Nebraska]], and within minutes of the bailout the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] launched Operation Brix to find the missing men. Poor weather hampered search efforts; nevertheless 12 of the 17 men were eventually found alive. One of the five deceased, the weaponeer, was rumored to have been recovered four years later (1954) at the crash site. The remaining four airmen were believed to have bailed out of the aircraft earlier than the surviving crew members, and it was assumed that they landed in the ocean and died of hypothermia. Canadian authorities were never told that the aircraft was carrying a nuclear weapon.<ref name="Clearwater2015" />

== Subsequent events ==
To search for the B-36, aircraft were pulled off the search for [[1950 Douglas C-54D disappearance|a Douglas C-54 that had disappeared three weeks earlier]]. A more exhaustive search was not launched for the B-36, as it was believed to be at the bottom of the Pacific. Three years later, an RCAF flight searching for the missing [[de Havilland Dove]] aircraft of Texas millionaire oilman Ellis A. Hall spotted the B-36's wreckage.{{sfnp|Septer|2016|pages=98,170}} It was found on the side of Mount Kologet, about {{convert|50|mi}} east of the Alaskan border, roughly due east of the towns of [[Stewart, British Columbia]], and [[Hyder, Alaska]], on the east side of the isolated [[Nass River|Nass Basin]] northwest of [[Hazelton, British Columbia]].<ref name="Clearwater2015" />

The USAF immediately began an investigation. A team was sent in September 1953, as the effort was given a high priority, but they failed to reach the site after 19 days of trudging through the wilderness. The effort was resumed the following year with better equipment, and in August 1954 a new team of USAF personnel accompanied by a local guide reached the wreckage. They recovered important components and then used explosives to destroy what was visible above the snow.{{sfnp|Septer|2016|page=104}}

In 1956, two civilian surveyors chanced on the wreck and noted its exact location, which otherwise remained unknown for the next 40 years.<ref name="Mahaffey2014">{{cite book|author=James Mahaffey|title=Atomic Accidents: A History of Nuclear Meltdowns and Disasters: From the Ozark Mountains to Fukushima|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cuiZAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT362|date=4 February 2014|publisher=Pegasus Books|isbn=978-1-4804-4774-5|pages=362–}}</ref> In 1997 one of the surveyors provided the coordinates<ref name="Mahaffey2014" /> to two distinct expeditions, one American and one led by the Canadian [[Department of National Defence (Canada)|Department of National Defence]], seeking to conduct an environmental analysis of the site. Both expeditions reached the wreck around the same time, and members were apparently the first humans to set foot in the area since 1956. The Canadian-led mission found no unusual [[radiation]] levels.<ref name="Enviroreport1">{{cite web|last1=Davidge|first1=D|title=A Preliminary Report on the Ground Survey of the 1950 USAF B – 36 Crash near Mount Kologet, B.C.|date=September 1997|url=http://www.yukonflying.com/Documents/B36%2092075%20Site%20Assessment%20Report.PDF|website=YukonFlying.com|publisher=Environmental Protection – Yukon Branch Environment Canada|accessdate=4 November 2016}}</ref> In late 1998, the Canadian government declared the site protected.<ref name="BCMAg1">{{cite web|last1=Ludwig|first1=Michaela|title=Bomb on Board – A Nuclear Weapon Goes Missing Over British Columbia|url=http://www.bcmag.ca/bomb_on_board|website=BCMag|accessdate=4 November 2016|date=13 May 2015}}</ref> A portion of one of the gun turrets is on display at The Bulkley Valley Museum in [[Smithers, British Columbia]].<ref name="BVMuseum1">{{cite web|title=B36 bomber crashes 14 February|url=http://bvmuseum.com/news/article/b36_bomber_crashes_february_14th|website=Bulkley Valley Museum|date=14 February 2014|accessdate=4 November 2016}}</ref>

In late October 2016 a diver reported he had discovered something that looked like a segment of the partially disarmed Mark IV nuclear bomb that the co-pilot said they had dumped before the crash. The location near [[Pitt Island (Canada)|Pitt Island]] in the [[Inside Passage]] was mistakenly reported as off [[Haida Gwaii]]. The Royal Canadian Navy later confirmed that the item was not the Mark IV bomb.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.winnipegsun.com/2016/11/04/canadian-army-interested-in-old-nuke-that-may-have-been-found-off-haida-gwaii |title=Canadian army interested in old nuke that may have been found off Haida Gwaii|date=4 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Object found off British Columbia coast not missing nuke|work=BBC News |date=25 November 2016 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38112808|accessdate=7 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Pugliese|first1=David|title=Object found off B.C. coast thought to possibly be lost atomic bomb identified as harmless steel|url=http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/object-found-off-b-c-coast-thought-to-possibly-be-missing-atomic-bomb-identified-as-harmless-steel|work=National Post|date=25 November 2016}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of military nuclear accidents]]
*[[Nuclear weapons of the United States]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
* "[http://www.user.dccnet.com/welcomewoods/Nuclear_Free_Georgia_Strait/b_arrow1.html Broken Arrow]," ''Dirk Septer. BC Aviator 3, no. 2 (October–November 1993): 23–27'' .
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150702115404/http://www.cowtown.net/proweb/brokenarrow1.htm Site] with links to Canadian Dept. of National Defence report and to news stories.
* [http://www.air-and-space.com/b-36%20wrecks.htm#44-92075 Convair B-36 Crash Reports and Wreck Sites] with pictures of the crash site.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150702114743/http://www.cowtown.net/proweb/brokenarrow3.htm Transcript of an interview with a crew survivor].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140502083842/http://www.mythmerchantfilms.com/index.php/mnu2-lib-lostnuke 2004 Canadian documentary film] about the incident.
* "Broken Arrow – The Declassified History of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Accidents" by Michael H. Maggelet and James C. Oskins {{ISBN|978-1-4357-0361-2}}.

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1950}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Canada}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:British Columbia B-36 Crash}}
[[Category:Explosions in 1950]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving nuclear weapons]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving United States Air Force aircraft]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Canada]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1950]]
[[Category:History of British Columbia]]
[[Category:1950 in Canada]]
[[Category:1950 in the United States]]
[[Category:Canada–United States military relations]]
[[Category:1950 in British Columbia]]
[[Category:February 1950 events in Canada]]
[[Category:Disasters in British Columbia]]
[[Category:Convair B-36 Peacemaker]]
[[Category:1950 disasters in Canada]]
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