OTD 65 years ago at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, a C-124 transport carrying three B39 3.8 Megaton thermonuclear bombs to Little Rock AFB, Arkansas, crashed on takeoff. The C-124 and three weapons were destroyed in the ensuing fire. The government kept key details of this Broken Arrow secret until 1982.
This 2015 Shreveport Times article includes reminiscences from people who witnessed the crash and fire.
“Stony-faced salvage crewmen and officers watched nervously as the atomic cargo (smoldered) for several hours within the flaming Globemaster hull. The atomic devices simmered harmlessly.”
