reible wrote:You may want to rethink what you have been told. There are still missing bombs that have never been recovered. The accidents are way more then the 32 that is often mentioned, more like more then 1000. In one case the only thing that kept one from going off was a single toggle switch, all the other arming sequences had happened.
Watch the video. There were things I knew about but a lot that I did not.
One thing that was mentioned a lot was human error........ well it best if we never got to the point of having human error dictate a situation.
With all this planning that other then the first two bombs dropped the rest of the people killed have been our own.
By all means find and watch this.
Ed
jsburger wrote:One never knows Steve.
I spent 16+ years of the 24 I spent in the Air Force working/loading nuclear weapons and weapons systems on aircraft. There have been 32 incidents of nuclear weapons being involved in an accident (called a Broken Arrow). None have resulted in a nuclear detonation. This attests to the safety features built into all of our nuclear weapons and their delivery systems.
For example, the B-52 had a system installed called SWESS (Special Weapons Emergency Separation System). I have loaded B-52's with that system. It was designed to safely release the weapons if the aircraft dropped below a certain altitude for any reason. That system is what happened with the B-52 crash over the Mediterranean off the coast off Spain in 1966. The weapons were all recovered.
There are many factors that are pre-programed and have to come together in a specific sequence to have a nuclear weapon detonate with a nuclear yield. None of those factors occur in an accident. That is exactly why the incident in Kansas did not result in a nuclear detonation. The worst that can happen is a conventional explosion that spreads radio active material.
Please don't get me wrong. Any incident with a nuclear weapon is extremely serious. However, the safety systems are adequate IMO.
Why do I want to watch a video from some movie producer that only wants sensation to increase sales?
Where is your proof of 1000 incidents? Do you know the difference between a Dull Sword, Bent Spear and Broken Arrow? I lived under those acronyms for years and they were very serious.
Please tell me what incident occurred where "all the arming sequences were in place except a toggle switch'. Yes in the old days there was a Nuke Consent switch in all aircraft since all aircraft back then could carry nukes. It had a red cover on it that was safety wired closed with copper wire and sealed with a lead seal that had a number on the seal. That number identified the load crew that loaded the aircraft and put the seal on. You could not just turn it on and drop a Nuke without a lot of other things happening first.
On the B-52 there were some ware around 12 switches that were safety wired and sealed by the load crew that uploaded the weapons on the aircraft. Those switches were all involved with dropping nuclear weapons and that is before the crew got the codes and authorization to actually deliver the weapons.
A true documentary tells the facts without any bias. A movie director wants sensation to increase the box office intake. How many true documentary s have you ever seen in the theater?
