Broken Arrow: Broken Arrow

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Broken Arrow – April 11, 1950 Since the United States first began developing and transporting nuclear weapons, there have been a number of accidents involving these weapons while in transport. The Department of Defense came up with a codeword for such events that could result in a nuclear detonation or release of radioactive materials, or the loss of a nuclear weapon: a Broken Arrow. Fortunately, due to the systems that have been put in place, there have been no accidental nuclear detonations on United States soil resulting from accidents in transport. That being said, it can still be considered rather unnerving to know that any one of these accidents could have resulted in a nuclear detonation that would have most certainly devastated the immediate and surrounding areas of the accident. One accident in particular, that occurred on April 11, 1950, was seen by a number of people who knew there was a nuclear weapon involved. Imagine being within a few miles of an aircraft accident, knowing there was a nuclear weapon on board, but not knowing if there would be a release of nuclear material in the crash. The Accident On April 11, 1950, at 9:38 PM, a B-29 took off from Kirtland Air Force Base (AFB) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The aircraft was on a mission to deliver a Mark 4 nuclear weapon to the 509th Bomb Wing at Walker AFB in Roswell. The aircraft and its crew of 13 were only in flight for approximately three minutes when the plane crashed into a mountain on Monzano Base, Kirtland AFB. All 13 personnel were killed in the crash. Neither the bomb, nor the high explosive material, exploded from the impact. Some of the explosive material was scattered and burned in the gasoline fire that resulted from the impact. The bomb cas... ... middle of paper ... ...ve material, and detonators. As a result, the bomb casing was destroyed; most of the explosive material burned up, but a case of four spare detonators and the nuclear capsule were recovered undamaged. Since the components were separated, it was impossible for a nuclear detonation to occur. Had these safety measures not been put in place, the situation could very well have been much worse. Conclusion Between 1950 and 1980, the United States has incurred 32 accidents involving nuclear weapons, or Broken Arrows. Fortunately, none of these accidents resulted in a nuclear detonation on U.S. soil. The accident at Monzano Base in Albuquerque, NM on April 11, 1950 was just one of those accidents that could have been avoided. Due to the substantial safety measures in place, this accident, along with others in the United States, did not result in widespread devastation.

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