1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash

1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash

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 / 35.4928417°N 77.8587194°W / 35.4928417; -77.8587194
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

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.^[1] Information declassified since 2013 has shown 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.^[2][3]