bent spear - The Black Vault

1968 Thule Air Base B-52 Crash with 4 Hydrogen Bombs On Board

John Greenewald — Wed, 31 Mar 2021 05:20:53 +0000

Background

On 21 January 1968, an aircraft accident involving a United States Air Force (USAF) B-52 bomber occurred near Thule Air Base in the Danish territory of Greenland. The aircraft was carrying four hydrogen bombs on a Cold War”Chrome Dome” alert mission over Baffin Bay when a cabin fire forced the crew to abandon the aircraft before they could carry out an emergency landing at Thule Air Base. Six crew members ejected safely, but one who did not have an ejection seat was killed while trying to bail out. The bomber crashed onto sea ice in North Star Bay, Greenland, causing the conventional explosives aboard to detonate and the nuclear payload to rupture and disperse, which resulted in radioactive contamination.

The United States and Denmark launched an intensive clean-up and recovery operation, but the secondary stage of one of the nuclear weapons could not be accounted for after the operation completed. USAF Strategic Air Command “Chrome Dome” operations were discontinued immediately after the accident, which highlighted the safety and political risks of the missions. Safety procedures were reviewed and more stable explosives were developed for use in nuclear weapons. (Description of event courtesy of Wikipedia)

Declassified Documents

Summaries of Nuclear Weapon and Material Accidents – Department of Energy – National Nuclear Security Administration

John Greenewald — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 21:01:46 +0000

Background

While sifting through thousands of different pages of documents, I found references to some previously, never-before-released (that I saw) documents about nuclear accidents.

I have always been fascinated by the topic, ever since I saw the 1996 film Broken Arrow. Yes, I know, a bit cheesy, but I was 15 when it came out – and I was just about to start The Black Vault. I was fascinated to learn, that Broken Arrow was a real term, and in fact, nuclear accidents have plagued American history. So, when I saw these documents existed, I had to get them!

It took quite a few years – and my FOIA requests bounced around from a few offices. I had to refile to the NNSA in 2015, and in September of 2016, finally received them, declassified.

Declassified Documents

FOIA Response Letter, Dated September 15, 2016 [3 Pages, 1.1MB]

History of Accidents Involving Nuclear Materials, May 2, 1971 [5 Pages, 1.8MB]

Summary of Air Force Nuclear Accidents, February 6, 1968 [4 Pages, 2.2MB]

History of Accidents Involving Nuclear Materials, May 25, 1966 [8 Pages, 19.9MB]

The post Summaries of Nuclear Weapon and Material Accidents – Department of Energy – National Nuclear Security Administration first appeared on The Black Vault.

Bent Spear: Minot Air Force Base (08-29-2007)

John Greenewald — Sun, 01 Mar 2015 18:23:57 +0000

The 2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident occurred at Minot Air Force Base and Barksdale Air Force Base on August 29–30, 2007. Six AGM-129 ACM cruise missiles, loaded with a W80-1 variable yield nuclear warhead, were reportedly mistakenly loaded on a United States Air Force (USAF) B-52H heavy bomber at Minot and transported to Barksdale. The nuclear warheads in the missiles were supposed to have been removed before taking the missiles from their storage bunker. The missiles with the nuclear warheads were not reported missing and remained mounted to the aircraft at both Minot and Barksdale for a period of 36 hours. During this period, the warheads were not protected by the various mandatory security precautions required for nuclear weapons.

The incident was reported to the top levels of the United States (U.S.) military and referred to by observers as a Bent Spear incident, which indicates a nuclear weapon incident that is of significant concern, but does not involve the immediate threat of nuclear war. The USAF, however, has yet to officially classify the incident.

In response to the incident, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and USAF conducted an investigation, the results of which were released on October 19, 2007. The investigation concluded that nuclear weapons handling standards and procedures had not been followed by numerous USAF personnel involved in the incident. As a result, four USAF commanders were relieved of their commands, numerous other USAF personnel were disciplined and/or decertified to perform certain types of sensitive duties, and further cruise missile transport missions from and nuclear weapons operations at Minot Air Force Base were suspended. In addition, the USAF issued new nuclear weapons handling instructions and procedures.

Separate investigations by the U.S. Defense Science Board and a USAF “Blue Ribbon” panel reported that concerns existed on the procedures and processes for handling nuclear weapons within the U.S. DoD but did not find any failures with the security of U.S. nuclear weapons. Based on this and other incidents, on June 5, 2008, Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff of the Air Force General T. Michael Moseley, resigned. In response to recommendations by a review committee, in October 2008 the USAF announced the creation of Air Force Global Strike Command to control all USAF nuclear bombers, missiles, and personnel.

Unauthorized Transfer of Nuclear Warheads Briefing [7 Pages, 190kb]

Commander Directed Investigation [67 Pages, 2.4MB]

Sole Vouching Authority Storage Structure Procedures [13 Pages, 14kb]

Index of Witnesses [222 Pages, 10.3MB]

Index of Exhibits [173 Pages, 4.3MB]

The post Bent Spear: Minot Air Force Base (08-29-2007) first appeared on The Black Vault.