Nuclear B-52 Crash of 1968
The gloomy frozen landscape of the arctic fjord had sat undisturbed for much of the winter. The thick ice creaking and groaning as freshly fallen snow was swept up onto the cliffs by the howling winds. All of a sudden the landscape was bathed in a bright orange light as a deafening noise pervaded the desolate landscape. A moment later a monstrous aircraft crashed onto the ice, skidding for a few meters before erupting in an explosion that singed the surrounding area.
Operation Chrome Dome
After the Soviet Union developed nuclear weapons of their own the United States feared a surprise attack that would cripple much of their strategic bomber force and prevent them from retaliating with their own nukes. The U.S. Strategic Air Command came up with a solution to this problem by creating an Airborne Alert Indoctrination program codenamed Head Start, eventually renamed Operation Chrome Dome. Starting in 1958 the U.S. would keep up to 12 nuclear armed bombers in the air at all times. These bombers would follow specific routes everyday and in case of a nuclear attack by the U.S.S.R. they would immediately divert towards the Soviet Union where their nuclear payload would be dropped on predetermined targets. One route flew from the U.S. east coast across the Atlantic and over Spain into the Mediterranean, another flew from Alaska over the Pacific towards Japan, and a third ran along the U.S. east coast up to Greenland and over parts of Canada.
Map showing the routes of Operation Chrome Dome. Public Domain.
In Greenland there is a strategically important air force base in Thule. This base acted as an early warning radar station that detected any nukes or aircraft launched against the United States from the Soviet Union. Since it was so important it also had a nuclear armed bomber that circled the base to provide surveillance.
A B-52 flying for Operation Chrome Dome refueling in air. Courtesy of The Aviation Geek Club.
A Nuclear Crash
On January 21, 1968 an American B-52G Stratofortress bomber, designation HOBO 28, was flying a routine mission over the Thule Air Base when it caught fire. One of the crewmembers had placed seat cushions in front of a heating vent and they subsequently ignited. The plane attempted to make an emergency landing at the base but the smoke became so thick he could not see out of the cockpit and all electrical power went out. Six of the seven men aboard were able to successfully eject but one died while attempting to bailout. At approximately 3:40 P.M. the B-52 crashed seven and a half miles west of the airbase.
One of the crew members being helped. Courtesy of the United States Air Force.
The plane had been carrying four Mark 28 F1 nuclear hydrogen bombs, each being 100 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima in World War Two. The nuclear warheads had not been armed but their casing had been weakened by the fire and two had their conventional explosives detonate upon crashing, releasing radioactivity into the surrounding area. Luckily the warheads themselves did not explode and remained relatively intact.
Four Mark 28 nuclear hydrogen bombs. Courtesy of National Museum of the USAF.
Those at the base saw the crash and felt the explosion when the plane impacted. They raced to help any survivors and immediately contacted officials in Washington to inform them about the incident. It would not be the first time an accident such as this had happened but it would create a serious issue that the U.S. would have to navigate carefully.
An aerial photograph showing the blackened ice around the crash site. Public Domain.
Diplomatic Fallout
Greenland was, and still is, a part of Denmark and is considered an important strategic location because it sits roughly halfway between Moscow and Washington D.C. The United States even attempted to purchase Greenland from Denmark in 1946 but they were unsuccessful, but due to World War Two Denmark was a strong ally and allowed them to operate a military base out of Thule, Greenland. This crash would put a strain on that relationship as Denmark had a nuclear free zone policy that started in 1957. This policy prohibited any and all nuclear weapons within Denmark or any of its territories, including Greenland.
Just hours after hearing about the crash Danish Foreign Minister reasserted this policy by issuing a press release stating, “The Danish policy regarding nuclear weapons also applies to Greenland and also the airspace over Greenland. There are no nuclear weapons in Greenland. The American authorities are aware of Denmark’s nuclear policy and the Danish Govt assumes that there are no American over-flights of Greenland by aircraft carrying nuclear weapons.” Two hours after this press release Danish Prime Minister Jens Otto Krag made a statement saying that “there can be no overflights over Greenland by aircraft carrying nuclear weapons.” (In both statements it was included that nuclear armed bombers were allowed within Danish territory if there was an emergency.) These statements worried the U.S. as they believed they had permission to fly nuclear ordinance into the airbase at Thule. The 1951 joint agreement for the defense of Greenland between the U.S. and Denmark laid out what America was allowed to militarily do within these borders. The United States mistakenly believed that this agreement allowed them to have nuclear weapons in Greenland, even though it did not specifically state anything about them. Not long after the Danish statements were made U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, Katherine White, gave a warning to the Department of State saying “repercussions in Denmark may be severe in light of special nuclear sensitivities.”
Danish Prime Minister Jens Otto Krag. Public Domain.
This crash not only irradiated a part of Greenland but it was also going to expose how long and how often nuclear weapons were being flown into the territory, and it could not have come at a worse possible time. Denmark was in the last days of a national election and Prime Minister Krag needed to look like he was unwavering in Denmark's no nukes policy. On top of all this, America waited 18 hours after the crash to finally admit that there had been nuclear ordinance on board the plane. However the U.S. was now quite well experienced in handling public and diplomatic relations when it came to nuclear weapons. Drawing on what they learned from a similar incident in Palomares, Spain two years earlier, they began answering questions truthfully, granting journalist permission to the crash sight, and working closely with the Danish ambassador to diffuse the tense political situation. Operation Chrome Dome was also immediately stopped after this crash and never restarted. The U.S. was willing to do whatever it took to retain the airbase at Thule.
There was some contention between the two countries as to what to do with the radioactive wreckage. The United States wanted to leave it and allow it to sink into the fjord over time. Denmark did not want, nor would allow, that to happen and requested that all the wreckage be removed along with any ice that was contaminated by radiation. Since the fate of the airbase hung in the balance, America agreed to Denmark’s terms.
Cleanup Effort
Codenamed “Crested Ice” the cleanup effort moved quickly to recover the debris before spring came and the ice melted. In the beginning the biggest issue was transportation. Much of the radiological equipment and specialists had to be flown in from Sandia Base in New Mexico, and then had to be taken to the crash site by dog sled. The first thing the cleanup crew did was attempt to locate the bombs and any of their radioactive components. Bomb technicians had to ensure the bombs were stable, luckily they had not been armed at the time of the crash and were not at risk of detonating. Carpenters and engineers were then brought in to build a forward base to house the workers and to clear out ice to create impromptu roads for vehicles.
A road grater smooths out the ice for other vehicles while workers clear debris. Courtesy of the US Air Force.
The weather also made the crew's job particularly miserable. This was one of the coldest places on earth, 700 miles within the arctic circle, and temperatures were frequently 75℉ below zero with wind gusts upwards of 80 miles per hour. There were days when the weather was so bad that cleanup efforts had to be completely halted. The clothing they had to wear also made it hard to maneuver around in. On top of their cold weather gear they had to wear heavy gloves, overalls and facemasks that would lessen the amount of radiation they were exposed to. The continual winter darkness did not help either, but the sun luckily rose within the first couple weeks of operations.
A worker rakes up pieces of the wreckage, notice the heavy gloves and coveralls. Courtesy of the US Air Force.
Logistics became complicated as vehicles that were contaminated with radiation could not leave the wreckage zone and more had to be brought in to operate outside in the safe zone. The men had to be continually tested and sometimes had to take a few days off to flush the radiation out of their system, this made planning and having a set schedule quite difficult. A lot of trash was generated due to the men's general living needs and because of objects becoming irradiated. This trash had to be manually sorted for what could just be thrown away and what had to be put into sealed containers and taken to a special site.
Wreckage from the B-52. Courtesy of Getty Images.
Every piece of wreckage had to be accounted for, no matter how big or small. Even something as small as flashlight batteries had to be found and properly disposed of. Groups of 20-50 airmen would walk shoulder to shoulder combing the area for debris from the plane. Radioactive ice was found using a geiger counter, it was then put into sealed tanks and taken to a special storage facility. Nearly every piece of the plane and bombs was found with the exception of a secondary stage cylinder of uranium and lithium deuteride. This was the nuclear fuel that caused the bomb's explosive reaction. A minisub was even used to comb the seafloor for the cylinder, but it remains missing to this day. The idea of one of the primary components of a nuclear bomb being out in the wild can be distressing to some but it is relatively small, a bit smaller than the average beer keg, and it puts off very little radiation, not much more than normal background radiation. On top of this there is no chance of the cylinder exploding no matter how long it sits. In order for it to explode it has to first experience detonation from a primary fission unit such as plutonium, an element that it is laughably unlikely to encounter by itself.
Contaminated ice being put in steel tanks. Public Domain.
All in all it took nine months and 700 men to clean up the site, but the vested effort largely restored relations between the United States and Denmark. However the misunderstanding between the two on nuclear policy became the focus of a 1995 internal review of government documents. Denmark found that in 1965, three years prior to the crash, America had informed them that nuclear weapons were regularly being transported to Thule and that the then Danish Prime Minister H.C. Hansen had given them approval to do so. This sparked some controversy within the Danish government as they now had to accept some of the blame for the incident.
Inuit Eskimos that transported the men by sled dog. Public Domain.
Lasting Impact
In 2003 Denmark had environmental scientists visit the fjord where the crash occurred to see if they could detect any radiation left by the accident. There was some but levels were extremely low and the area is considered to be safe and unaffected. In the U.S. there were some lawsuits filed by those that worked on the crash site and suffered health effects related to radiation exposure, however most of these claimants were found to have suffered their health issues due to chemicals they were exposed to in their day to day work. As recently as 2019 three Danes who worked at the crash site have attempted to gain compensation for being exposed to radiation. Two of them, Bent Hansen, 81, and Heinz Eriksen, 75, claim that the radiation caused their kidney cancer and another, Jeffrey Carswell, 77, says it caused his stomach cancer. The three say that they were never issued the protective overalls, gloves or facemask. Carswell also claims he was exposed to plutonium from ice cubes that he was served in drinks because the ice they used for them was from the fjord where the plane crashed. At the time of writing this article the cases are still pending.
The base at Thule still remains in service today, though it no longer serves as a pit stop for nuclear bombers. Instead it has had its radar capabilities beefed up and is used for the detection of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles that may be launched at the United States by Russia.
Personal Thoughts
Things that happened during the Cold War always amaze me, it was like the wild west when it came to nuclear weapons. Just the thought of having nuclear weapons airborne is just crazy, but I suppose the goal to have nukes ready at any moment was achieved. I think the crazier thing is that the U.S. didn’t really come up with any sort of plan for if one of these bombers crashed. It was sort of inevitable. The crazier thing though to me is that they didn’t want to clean it up but wanted to just let it fall to the bottom of the ocean. The whole situation is just wild.
Sources
Cover photo courtesy of Bobby D. Brewer
https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/01/23/50-years-ago-a-b-52-crashed-in-greenland-with-4-nuclear-bombs-on-board/
https://www.foxnews.com/us/us-b-52-nuclear-bomber-crash-in-greenland-51-years-ago-has-ill-danes-seeking-compensation
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/28/newsid_2506000/2506207.stm
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v12/d1
https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a283578.pdf
https://www.nukestrat.com/dk/alertprint.htm
https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nukevault/ebb475/docs/doc%207.pdf
https://www.osti.gov/opennet/servlets/purl/16062260.pdf
https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/brb/decisions/lngshore/unpublished/Dec18/18-0091.pdf
