USAF Davis Easement (Secondary of Weapon No. 2 - S/N 359943)

USA / North Carolina / Eureka /
 site - to be removed, military, pollution, United States Air Force, nuclear weapons/warheads storage
Ceded to the ownership of the United States Air Force in October 1962, this small plot of land formerly owned by the Davis family was the landing site of a single Mark 39 thermonuclear bomb ejected from a disintegrating B-52G bomber attempting an emergency landing at Seymour Johnson Air Base.

Known today as the "Goldsboro B-52 Incident", a B-52G on airborne alert experienced progressive structural failure of its wings and broke apart roughly 8000ft over the Faro/Goldsboro area on the night of January 24th, 1961. The bomber was carrying two Mark 39 Thermonuclear bombs at the time of its break-up, one of which safely deployed its parachute and landed alongside Shackleford Road without incident. The other bomb failed to deploy its parachute and moving at an estimated speed of over 700mph slammed into this location and buried itself deep into the muddy ground as it broke apart.

USAF recovery efforts began immediately to recover the missing weapon, but searchers were forced to dig 20ft into the ground before locating the bombs tail section, after which USAF reports state much of the balance of the bomb and its nuclear components were recovered. However, progressive flooding of the excavation area soon overwhelmed the pumps being used to dewater the site and all recovery efforts were abandoned without the recovery of the bombs Uranium thermonuclear stage.

Estimated to be lying at a depth of 55ft below the surface, the remaining nuclear material onsite is believed to pose no danger to the surrounding community unless disturbed. To this end, the USAF and Federal Government purchased the land directly over the site from the Davis family and continue to conduct periodic measurements of soil and groundwater samples.

The bomb that "nearly detonated" was found sticking nose first next to a group of gum trees on Shackleford Road (use the "historical layer/disappeared" to view these and other sites).

www.ibiblio.org/bomb/initial.html
www.ibiblio.org/bomb/ease.html

Mr Joel Dobson has done extensive research on this accident and written a book, called "The Goldsboro Broken Arrow (2nd Edition)." You can find it on Amazon.com. Here is his website:
www.thegoldsborobrokenarrow.com/
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   35°29'37"N   77°51'30"W

Comments

  • This is NOT the location of the easement. It was next to Big Daddy Road.
  • Ok, I've moved this site to it's actual location, here next to Big Daddy Road. See this site for photos and a map: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rocbolt/sets/72157629901376577/map/
This article was last modified 2 years ago