Mark 39 nuclear bomb
E860241
The Mark 39 nuclear bomb was an early U.S. thermonuclear weapon deployed during the Cold War, best known for the 1961 Goldsboro incident in which two of these bombs were accidentally dropped over North Carolina, nearly causing a catastrophic detonation.
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
nuclear bomb
ⓘ
thermonuclear weapon ⓘ |
| accidentCause | in-flight structural failure of B-52 ⓘ |
| accidentDate | 24 January 1961 ⓘ |
| accidentInvolvedAircraft | B-52 Stratofortress NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| accidentLocation | near Goldsboro, North Carolina ⓘ |
| approximateWeightCategory | multi-ton class bomb ⓘ |
| associatedCity | Goldsboro NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| associatedState | North Carolina NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| compatibleAircraft | B-52 Stratofortress NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| deliveryPlatform | strategic bomber ⓘ |
| deployedBy | United States Air Force NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| deploymentPlatformType | free-fall bomb ⓘ |
| deploymentRole | gravity bomb ⓘ |
| designedForRole | strategic deterrent ⓘ |
| designType | two-stage thermonuclear ⓘ |
| detonationPreventedBy | single low-voltage switch that did not close ⓘ |
| developedBy |
U.S. nuclear weapons complex
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
United States Air Force NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| droppedAccidentallyOn | North Carolina NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| environmentalRemediationAction | easement placed on land above buried components ⓘ |
| era | Cold War ⓘ |
| historicalSignificance | example of close call in nuclear weapons history ⓘ |
| maximumEstimatedCasualtiesIfDetonated | millions of people on U.S. East Coast (historical estimates) ⓘ |
| nearDetonation | true ⓘ |
| notableFor | near-catastrophic Goldsboro incident NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| notableIncident | 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash ⓘ |
| numberOfBombsInAccident | two GENERATED ⓘ |
| numberOfSafetyDevices | four GENERATED ⓘ |
| publicRevelationOfAccidentDetails | declassified documents in 2013 ⓘ |
| recoveredComponentsLocation | farmland near Faro, North Carolina ⓘ |
| relatedProgram | U.S. strategic bomber-based nuclear deterrent ⓘ |
| riskCategory | broken arrow incident (Goldsboro) ⓘ |
| safetyDeviceStatusInAccident | three of four safety mechanisms failed on one bomb ⓘ |
| safetyLessonsInfluence |
U.S. nuclear weapon safety design
ⓘ
development of enhanced nuclear surety standards ⓘ |
| safetySystemType | mechanical and electrical interlocks ⓘ |
| serviceEntry | late 1950s ⓘ |
| status | retired ⓘ |
| unrecoveredComponents | part of secondary stage buried underground ⓘ |
| unrecoveredComponentsLocation | near Goldsboro, North Carolina ⓘ |
| usedInCombat | false ⓘ |
| usedInConflict | Cold War NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| warheadType | hydrogen bomb ⓘ |
| yield | approximately 3.8 megatons of TNT ⓘ |
| yieldType | variable yield ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.