January 17, 1966 - A Big Mess in Spain - Cold War Era Story.

Looking for something else, I found this crazy story about 4 nuclear bombs dropped near the town of Palomares (Spain) when a B-52 bomber collided with a KC-135 Stratotanker. I didn't know about it until now.

The incident occurred on January 17, 1966, when a B-52G bomber from the US Air Force Strategic Air Command collided with a KC-135 tanker during mid-air refueling at 31,000 feet (9,450 m) over the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Spain. The KC-135 was completely destroyed when its fuel load ignited, killing all four crew members. The B-52G broke apart, killing three of the seven crew members aboard.

Of the four Mk28 type hydrogen bombs the B-52G carried, three were found on land near the small fishing village of Palomares in the municipality of Cuevas del Almanzora, Almería, Spain. The non-nuclear explosives in two of the weapons detonated upon impacting the ground, resulting in the contamination of a 2-square-kilometer (490-acre) (0.78 square mile) area by radioactive plutonium.

The fourth, which fell into the Mediterranean Sea, was recovered intact after a 2½-month-long search.The aircraft and hydrogen bombs fell to earth near the fishing village of Palomares. This settlement is part of Cuevas del Almanzora municipality, in the Almeria province of Andalucía, Spain. Three of the weapons were located on land within 24 hours of the accident—the conventional explosives in two had exploded on impact, spreading contaminated material, while a third was found relatively intact in a riverbed. The fourth weapon could not be found despite an intensive search of the area—the only part that was recovered was the parachute tail plate, leading searchers to postulate that the weapon's parachute had deployed, and that the wind had carried it out to sea.

This is when the story gets even worse, they found the 4th one, dropped and lost it again :

The search for the fourth bomb was carried out by means of a novel mathematical method, Bayesian search theory, led by Dr. John Craven. This method assigns probabilities to individual map grid squares, then updates these as the search progresses. Initial probability input is required for the grid squares, and these probabilities made use of the fact that a local fisherman, Francisco Simó Orts, popularly known since then as "Paco el de la bomba" ("Bomb Paco" or "Bomb Frankie"), witnessed the bomb entering the water at a certain location. Orts was contacted by the U.S. Air Force to assist in the search operation.

The United States Navy assembled 27 ships in response to Air Force request for assistance. The recovery operation was led by Supervisor of Salvage, Capt Searle. The USS Hoist, USS Petrel and USS Tringa brought 150 qualified divers who searched to 120 feet with compressed air, to 210 feet with mixed gas, and to 350 feet (110 m) with hard-hat rigs; but the bomb lay in an uncharted area of the Rio Almanzora canyon on a 70-degree slope at a depth of 2,550 feet (780 m). After a search that continued for 80 days following the crash, the bomb was located by the DSV Alvin on March 17, but was dropped and temporarily lost when the Navy attempted to bring it to the surface.

.....Just WOW.

www.eucom.mil...

thanks for this
really glad none of them detonated. i understand they have all sorts of failsafes for just such situations.

this is an example when a good relationship with an anticommunist dictator worked to our advantage.

IIRC there was another lost device off the Carolinas about that time. I believe they found that too.

a reply to: ElGoobero

Wonder how many babies with birth defects were born in that area.

this is an example when a good relationship with an anticommunist dictator worked to our advantage.

originally posted by: Trueman
a reply to: ElGoobero

Wonder how many babies with birth defects were born in that area.

a difficult one to find being 1966 onwards. at the time there was the tragic thalidomide scandal which is ongoing today as well as the franco regime which I suspect quietly hid/buried the reports as deep as the found scattered plutonium.

that particular area being subject to arid conditions I suspect a re-suspension of pu could have occurred countless times to be carried by the winds.
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