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Lost nuclear bomb possibly found [1958 Broken Arrow]
Device dropped in ocean off Georgia during Cold WarMonday, September 13, 2004 Posted: 10:38 PM EDT (0238 GMT) WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Government experts are investigating a claim that an unarmed nuclear bomb, lost off the Georgia coast at the height of the Cold War, might have been found, an Air Force spokesman said Monday. The hydrogen bomb was lost in the Atlantic Ocean in 1958 following a collision of a B-47 bomber and an F-86 fighter. A group led by retired Air Force Lt. Col. Derek Duke of Statesboro, Georgia, said in July that it had found a large object underwater near Savannah that was emitting high levels of radioactivity, according to an Associated Press report. The group said it used radiation and metal detection equipment to search an area in Wassaw Sound off Tybee Island where the bomb reportedly was dropped, the AP reported. Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Frank Smolinsky said Monday that it's "only prudent to completely evaluate the evidence" from the group's search. Smolinsky said experts from the Air Force, the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy were examining the information and may decide soon to conduct their own tests with more sophisticated equipment on the scene. Smolinsky said if the bomb were found, a decision would have to be made about whether to try to recover it or leave it where it is. An Air Force investigation concluded in 2001 that the bomb is probably harmless if left where it is. It also said a recovery operation could set off the conventional explosives in the bomb that would put the recovery crew at risk and do serious environmental damage. The 7,600-pound, 12-foot-long thermonuclear bomb contained 400 pounds of high explosives as well as uranium. The Air Force insists the bomb was being used for practice and did not contain the plutonium trigger needed for a nuclear explosion. The accident took place the morning of February 5, 1958, over the coast of Georgia. According to the 2001 Air Force investigation, a B-47 carrying a Mark 15, Mod 0, nuclear bomb on a simulated combat mission from Homestead Air Force Base in Florida collided with an F-86. The pilot of the F-86 bailed out safely and his plane crashed. The B-47 was damaged but flyable. The B-47 crew tried landing three times at Hunter Air Force Base in Georgia with the nuclear weapon onboard. But because of the damage and the risk that the conventional explosives could be detonated, the crew was granted permission to jettison the nuclear bomb into the Atlantic Ocean off Savannah. The bomb was dropped from an altitude of about 7,200 feet at an air speed of about 200 knots. The B-47 crew did not see an explosion when the bomb hit the ocean. The plane later landed safely at Hunter. Posted by: Zenster 2004-09-14 |
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