1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash
The 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash was an accident that occurred near Goldsboro, North Carolina, United States, on 24 January 1961. A Boeing B-52 Stratofortress carrying two 3.8-megaton Mark 39 nuclear bombs broke up in mid-air, dropping its nuclear payload in the process. The pilot in command, Walter Scott Tulloch, ordered the crew to eject at 9,000 ft (2,700 m). Five crewmen successfully ejected or bailed out of the aircraft and landed safely; another ejected, but did not survive the landing, and two died in the crash. Information declassified since 2013 has showed that one of the bombs was judged by nuclear weapons engineers at the time to have been only one safety switch away from detonation, and that it was "credible" to imagine conditions under which it could have detonated.
One of the Mk 39 nuclear weapons at Goldsboro, largely intact, with its parachute still attached | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 24 January 1961 |
| Summary | Structural failure |
| Site | Faro, Nahunta Township, Wayne County, 12 miles (19 km) north of Goldsboro, North Carolina 35°29′34.23″N 77°51′31.39″W |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | B-52G |
| Operator | Strategic Air Command, United States Air Force |
| Registration | 58-0187 |
| Flight origin | Seymour Johnson Air Force Base |
| Destination | Seymour Johnson Air Force Base |
| Crew | 8 |
| Fatalities | 3 |
| Survivors | 5 |