![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/b\/b2\/7th_Bombardment_Wing_-_B-36_Peacemaker.jpg\/330px-7th_Bombardment_Wing_-_B-36_Peacemaker.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/8\/8f\/Mk4_Fat_Man_bomb.jpg\/375px-Mk4_Fat_Man_bomb.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
On 13 February 1950, a USAF B-36B<\/em><\/a> \u00a0\u2013 carrying a Mark IV nuclear bomb<\/a><\/em> with\u00ad\u00ad what was reportedly a \u201cdummy\u201d (lead) nuclear capsule \u2013 took off from Eielson AFB, Alaska<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 It was headed to Carswell AFB, TX (now NAS Fort Worth JRB).\u00a0 Its mission included a simulated nuclear attack on San Francisco en route.<\/p>\n Shortly before midnight, while over the Pacific, the plane experienced major engine problems \u2013 as in \u201cthree of the plane\u2019s 6 engines caught fire and were shut down.\u201d\u00a0 Because of what was later determined likely to have been mixture control icing, the three functional engines did not appear capable of producing enough power to maintain flight.<\/p>\n The pilot flew over Princess Royal Island, Canada \u2013 300+ miles north of Vancouver \u2013 and the crew abandoned the aircraft.\u00a0 Twelve of the 17 crew were rescued alive.\u00a0 Four of those lost were believed to have abandoned the aircraft before it arrived over land; the remains of the fifth were reportedly found at the aircraft\u2019s crash site.<\/p>\n The aircraft reportedly dropped its weapon prior to reaching the coast, and it was reported to have exploded in midair.\u00a0 Since it had an inert (lead) capsule vice the active nuclear capsule that would have been present in a fully-armed\u00a0 weapon, the resulting explosion wasn’t nuclear.\u00a0 However, it was nonetheless sizeable; the weapon\u2019s design contained a relatively large amount of high explosive, which was required to implode the weapon’s core.<\/p>\n The aircraft\u2019s pilot reported having set the autopilot to take the aircraft west, out to sea, before he jumped.\u00a0 However, the autopilot apparently malfunctioned – or perhaps was set improperly due to stress or haste (quite understandable under the circumstances).<\/p>\n Rather than flying out to sea, the aircraft eventually ended up heading generally NNE.\u00a0 The aircraft ultimately crashed about 50 miles east of the border towns of Hyder, Alaska, and Stewart, British Columbia; the crash site wasn\u2019t located until over 3 1\/2 years later.\u00a0 The crash site is roughly 150 miles from Princess Royal Island.<\/p>\n Yeah, that\u2019s an interesting piece of history.\u00a0 But I know many of you are likely thinking, \u201cWhy mention this now?\u201d<\/p>\n