1966 Palomares accident

Uncommon card · No. 113868

The Palomares accident occurred on 17 January 1966, when a United States Air Force B-52G bomber collided with a KC-135 tanker during mid-air refueling at 31,000 feet (9,450 m) over the Mediterranean Sea, near the Spanish village of Palomares in Almería province. The collision destroyed the tanker, killing all four crew members, and caused the bomber to break apart, resulting in the deaths of three of its seven crew members. The B-52G was participating in Operation Chrome Dome, a Cold War airborne alert mission involving continuous flights of nuclear-armed bombers. At the time of the accident, the B-52G was carrying four B28FI Mod 2 Y1 thermonuclear bombs. Three of these bombs fell on land near Palomares; the conventional explosives in two detonated upon impact (there was no nuclear explosion triggered), dispersing plutonium and contaminating approximately 2 square kilometers (0.77 sq mi) of terrain. The fourth bomb fell into the Mediterranean Sea and was recovered intact after an extensive...

Read on Wikipedia · Image U.S. Navy, Courtesy of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Public domain