The Day We Lost the H-Bomb

remain the state of the art, though some planes use a probe-and-drogue system.

26 The boom is an aluminum tube: The description of a KC-135 refueling a B-52 comes from two sources: author’s visit to Minot Air Force Base on August 23, 2005, and author’s flight on a KC-135 refueling mission on July 29, 2005. During the refueling flight, boom operator Glen Starkweather answered many questions about the process; the boomer jokes come from him.

28 “It was a dog”: Larry Messinger interview, October 19, 2004.

28. “First you tell the plane to turn”: Harry Bender interview, August 23, 2005.

29 Pilots usually refer to the B-52: The background on the B-52 comes from the author’s visit to Minot Air Force Base on August 23, 2005; author’s visit to the Strategic Air and Space Museum on August 25, 2005; and interviews with airmen with B-52 experience. Statistics on the number of B-52s in SAC’s inventory can be found in Lloyd, Cold War Legacy, p. 677.

29 The G model: Information on the B-52G can be found at www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/b-52g.

29 B-52 pilots injected 10,000 pounds of water: The background on water augmentation comes from the author’s visit to Minot Air Force Base on August 23, 2005.

30 Rooney and Wendorf suspect that fatigue failure: In one famous example, the horizontal stabilizer snapped off a B-52 during severe turbulence. The plane landed successfully. See “Something Missing,” Aerospace Safety, April 1964, pp. 4–7. The fatigue failure problem is also discussed at www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/b-52g.

31 The one surviving member: To the best of the author’s knowledge, Ross C. Cox is the only living member of the accident investigation board. He refused several requests for an interview.

31 Buchanan, in the lower compartment: Buchanan’s story comes from author’s interviews with Mike Rooney and SAC Historical Study #109: Sixteenth Air Force Operation Recovery, 17 January–7 April, 1966 (History and Research Division, Headquarters Strategic Air Command, U.S. Department of the Air Force, 1968), vol. 1, pp. 13–14.

34 about eight miles from land: Different accounts place Messinger between five and fifteen miles from shore. “Eight miles” comes from SAC Historical Study #109, p. 15.

35 The survivors stayed: The chronology of the survivors’ movements is from SAC Historical Study #109, pp. 14–16.

35 At 7:05 a.m. Washington time: Letter, Bill Moyers to Flora Lewis, August 11, 1966 (LBJ).

CHAPTER 3: THE FIRST TWENTY-FOUR HOURS

37 Manolo Gonzalez Navarro believed in fate: Manolo Gonzalez’s story comes from author’s interview with Manolo and Dolores Gonzalez, February 24, 2007, and “Operacion Flecha Rota: Accidente nuclear de Palomares (Almeria),” directed by Jose Herrera Plaza, 2007. Some additional information about Manolo and Dolores is in Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs, pp. 26–29.

38 Fiery debris rained onto Palomares: Additional information about the debris shower can be found in Szulc, The Bombs of Palomares, pp. 41–42, and Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs, pp. 22–28.

38 Palomares sat on the southeastern coast: The description of Palomares in 1966 comes from author’s interview with Manolo and Dolores Gonzalez, February 24, 2007; Szulc, The Bombs of Palomares, pp. 14–22; author’s visit to the area, February 24–27, 2007.

40 Wendorf’s bomber had not been alone: SAC Historical Study #109, pp. 5–10.

40 The two planes had planned to switch: Report of Major Aircraft Accident, Wendorf’s statement, p. 2.

41 the Moron Command Post radioed: SAC Historical Study #109, pp. 8–10.

41 The tanker, after finishing the refueling: Ibid., p. 20.

41. Moron reported the incident to SAC: Ibid., p. 9.

42 the phone rang on the desk: Joe Ramirez’s recollections of the first twenty-four hours and his personal background are from author’s interviews with Ramirez, January 27, 2007, and April 27, 2007.

44 About twenty minutes before 2 p.m.: SAC Historical Study #109, pp. 67–69. The times noted in the SAC Historical Study are “Zulu” time, or Greenwich Mean Time. The local time in Palomares was Zulu plus 1 hour.

44 He was a steady, capable leader: The characterization of Wilson comes from author’s interviews with several men who served under him, including Walter Vornbrock on April 23, 2007, and Ralph Jenkins on March 14, 2007.

44 Wilson also had a unique link: Coffey, Iron Eagle, pp. 148– 149.

45 he learned that three: Szulc, The Bombs of Palomares, p. 71; Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs, pp. 79–81.

46 “This miracle is too big”: Quoted in “An H-bomb Is Missing and the Hunt Goes On,” Newsweek, March 7, 1966, p. 57.

46 Night had fallen by then: Additional details on the first night’s fruitless search can be found in Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs, pp. 75–76.

46 A sergeant named Raymond Howe: The story of finding bomb number one comes from Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs, pp. 78–79, and Szulc, The Bombs of Palomares, pp. 74–75.

47 The bomb was torpedo-shaped: The description of the Mark 28 comes from Chuck Hansen, U.S. Nuclear Weapons: The Secret History (New York: Crown Publishers, 1988), pp. 149–154, and James A. Gibson, Nuclear Weapons of the United States: An Illustrated History (Atglen, Pa.: Schiffer Publishing, 1996), pp. 99–100. Additional information can be found in Chuck Hansen, Swords of Armageddon, vol. 6: Gravity Bomb Histories (Sunnyvale, Calif.: Chukelea Publications).

The Palomares weapons were Mark 28RI (Retarded Internal). There is disagreement as to whether the bomb was eleven or twelve feet long, perhaps because the bomb could be configured in different ways.

47 It had a nine-inch gash: The condition of bomb number one is from SAC Historical Study #109, pp. 32–33, and Cable, DASA to RUECW/CNO, January 21, 1966, #51711 (LBJ).

47 The “H” in “H-bomb”: The background on nuclear bombs comes from Richard Rhodes, Dark Sun, pp. 116–117 and pp. 247–248; Chuck Hansen, U.S. Nuclear Weapons, pp. 11–25; Jack Dennis, ed., The Nuclear Almanac: Confronting the Atom in War and Peace (Reading, Mass.: Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 1984), chap. 10. The author has converted metric weights and measures to English units.

49 “without splattering the beer”: Quoted in Rhodes, Dark Sun, p. 117.

50 “Fission bombs”: Ibid., p. 511.

50 The exact inner workings: The explanation of a fusion bomb comes from Chuck Hansen, U.S. Nuclear Weapons, pp. 21–25, and Howard Morland, “The H-Bomb Secret,” The Progressive, November 1979, pp. 3–12. Andy Karam provided additional comments in his e-mail to the author, September 9, 2007.

51 The charred remains: SAC Historical Study #109, pp. 18–19; Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs, pp. 81–82; Szulc, The Bombs of Palomares, p. 76.

52 General Wilson and his entourage: Lewis, One of Our H- Bombs, p. 82; author’s interview with Joe Ramirez, January 27, 2007.

52 thirty-eight guardias civiles: SAC Historical Study #109, pp. 18, 71.