Today in Labor History March 14, 1961: U.S. Air Force B-52 nuclear bomber crashed near Yuba City, California, just 119 miles away from San Francisco, and only 42 miles from Sacramento. It was carrying two 3.8-megaton, sealed pit thermonuclear Mark 39 Mod 2 bombs arranged in tandem in its bomb bay. Both weapons were thrown from the aircraft on impact and "severely damaged." According to the official report, the aircraft experienced an uncontrolled decompression that required it to descend to 10,000 feet in order to lower the cabin altitude. However, the crew was also high on speed and exhausted from a 24-hour flight just before the accident. None of the crew died, but a firefighter on the ground did. Fortunately, the weapons' multiple safety interlocks prevented a nuclear explosion and the release of radioactive material. The warheads each had a yield of 3.8 megatons. By comparison, these bombs were roughly 250 time more powerful than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which had yields of only 15 and 20 kilotons respectively. Between 1958 and 1961, Mark 39 bombs were involved in at least 4 serious Broken Arrow accidents.
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