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Since 1950, there have been 32 nuclear weapon accidents, known as Broken Arrows. A Broken Arrow is defined as an unexpected event involving nuclear weapons that result in the accidental launching, firing, detonating, theft or loss of the weapon. To date, six nuclear weapons have been lost and never recovered.
May 12, 2023 · “Broken Arrow” is the name given to nuclear weapon accidents, whether the accident is due to accidental launching, firing, detonating, theft, or loss of the weapon. The U.S. admits to having 32...
- Marcia Wendorf
- May 22, 1957: Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. Albuquerque residents enjoying a spring day on May 22, 1957, found themselves literally rocked by what felt like a nuclear explosion.
- February 5, 1958: Savannah River, Georgia. When a B-47 carrying a nuclear device experienced a midair collision with an F-86 aircraft during a training simulation in February 1958, officials decided to jettison the bomb into the Savannah River.
- March 11, 1958: Florence, South Carolina. In March 1958, as a team of military divers scoured the Savannah River in Georgia for a broken arrow, another one fell in the southeast quadrant of the United States.
- November 4, 1958: Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. When a B-47 carrying a nuclear warhead catches fire on takeoff, it’s a problem. That’s what happened when a B-47 left Texas’ Dyess Air Force Base in November 1958 to transport a thermonuclear device to another location.
Jun 20, 2016 · As the U.S. and the Soviet Union developed and enhanced their arsenals during the Cold War arms race, both experienced a number of nuclear accidents. Since 1950, the Defense Department has reported 32 Broken Arrows. Three of the most notable U.S. incidents involving thermonuclear weapons are detailed below.
The Pentagon maintains that the United States has experienced 32 broken arrow accidents, including the 1980 episode in Damascus, Arkansas — the subject of the American Experience documentary ...
- American Experience
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Jul 16, 2015 · The military uses the term “broken arrow” to describe any incident in which a nuclear weapon is lost, stolen or inadvertently detonated. That might seem like a rare phenomenon, but records...
Jan 13, 2020 · The crash of Flight 2075 may have been the first broken arrow, but it wasn’t the last. Clearwater writes that in the first 24 years of the atomic age alone, the U.S. and Soviet Union jettisoned...
