MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. -- During the early morning hours of Feb. 5, 1958, an Air Force B-47 Stratojet bomber was soaring high above the Lowcountry coast on a simulated combat mission, but at approximately 2 a.m., disaster struck at 36,000 feet. A group of Air Force F-86 Saberjet fighters were in the vicinity, and without warning, one of the aircraft slammed into the bomber.
The collision destroyed the fighter, with the pilot ejecting safely, but the real concern was the weaponry aboard the crippled B-47: a hydrogen bomb.
Though the bomb utilized a removable nuclear capsule, which is required for a nuclear explosion, the weapon was not considered fully armed, but still inherently dangerous.
"The fighter was not directly involved with the B-47 simulated combat mission and did not detect the plane until it was too late to avoid a collision," said Dr. Billy Mullins, associate director of strategic security, Headquarters, United States Air Force.
The F-86 crashed after the pilot successfully bailed out, and the B-47 was damaged but flyable. After three landing attempts at then Hunter Air Force Base, Ga., the 400-pound bomb was jetisoned several miles from Savannah, Ga., into the Warsaw Sound area of the Atlantic Ocean.
"The incomplete bomb was jettisoned from the damaged bomber to avoid possibility of a conventional explosion if there was a crash landing at Hunter Air Force Base, Ga.," said Mullins.
The pilots did not see an explosion upon impact and returned for a crash landing at Hunter AFB. Recovery efforts began the following morning.
"The area was intensively searched using the Air Force 270th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron and approximately 100 navy personnel equipped with hand held sonar, galvanic drag detectors and cable sweeps," Mullins said.
The search was conducted over a three square mile area where the bomb was believed to have hit the water. If the bomb did not explode on impact, based on the depth of water in the impact region, the bomb should have been buried nose-down, anywhere from 5 to 15 feet below the seabed.
"After weeks of intense searching, no evidence of the bomb, or the bomb's resting place had been found. The Air Force declared the bomb irretrievably lost on April 16, 1958," said Mullins.
In August 2000, Congressman Jack Kingston requested the Air Force reinvestigate the accident following inquiries from media and local civilians.
After the search, the Air Force published its findings in an April 2001 report.
The Air Force received assistance from the Navy, the Department of Energy, the Savannah District Army Corps of Engineers and the Skidaway Oceanographic Institute in looking for the bomb. They wanted to investigate the details surrounding the incident, the most likely current condition of the bomb, associated hazards and to determine whether search and subsequent recovery operations should be attempted.
Based on the available data, the suspected orientation of the bomb, the search methods and available equipment, the Navy Supervisor of Salvage estimates there is a very low possibility of successfully locating the bomb.
If the bomb was found and the decision made to recover it, there could have been a substantial economic impact to the region if an accidental detonation occurred during search or recovery operations.
The Air Force decided to leave the bomb status as irretrievably lost for the following reasons. If the bomb remains in its resting place, there is no possibility of a nuclear explosion, no risk to the public and it avoids the potential of unacceptable impact to the environment.
Again in 2004, an investigation was opened. The Air Force organized a team of experts to conduct a radiological survey of an area in Warsaw Sound alleged to have elevated levels of radiation. The survey revealed only naturally occurring radioactive sources.
No new information was uncovered to lead the Air Force to modify its 2001 conclusions.
"The Air Force concurs with expert conclusions that it is in the best interest of the public, and the environment, to leave the bomb in its resting place and that it remain categorized as irretrievably lost," concluded Mullins.