歷史上十次軍方核彈誤炸事件(上)

"Broken arrows" are nuclear accidents that don't create a risk of nuclear war. Examples include accidental nuclear detonations or non-nuclear detonations of nuclear weapons. So far, the US Department of Defense recognizes 32 such incidents. They're sobering examples of how one tiny mistake could potentially cause massive unintentional damage.

美國國防部用"斷箭"表示不會引發核戰爭危機的核事故。意外核爆炸和核武器非核爆炸也是其中的兩例。迄今爲止，美國國防部認定了32起類似事故。這些發人深省的悲劇證明：細微的錯誤可以促發潛在隱患，造成不可估量的意外損失。

ish Columbia,1950

10.不列顛哥倫比亞，1950

The first recorded American military nuclear weapon loss took place in British Columbia on February 14, 1950. A Convair B-36 was on its way from Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, Alaska to the Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas. The bomber was scheduled to take part in a mission that simulated a nuclear attack on San Francisco. The role of the bomber was to see if these kinds of planes could perform bomb runs in extremely cold weather. That way, the military could see how the bomber would perform if it ever got attacked by the Soviets and had to respond.

據記載，美國軍隊第一次損失核武器是在1950年2月14日的不列顛哥倫比亞。一架康維爾B-36轟炸機正從阿拉斯加費爾班克斯的艾爾森空軍基地飛往德克薩斯沃思堡市的卡斯威爾空軍基地。這架轟炸機被安排參與一次模擬舊金山遭到核打擊的行動。安排這架轟炸機的目的就是看看這類飛機能否在極低氣溫條件下發射導彈。這樣，軍隊就能知道在遭到蘇聯攻擊時，他們如何反應，轟炸機如何發揮作用。

Because it was meant to go on a mock bomb run, the plane was carrying a Mark IV atomic bomb. However, the military wasn't actually planning to nuke anybody, so the bomb didn't contain the plutonium core necessary for a nuclear detonation. Even so, it still had about 2,250 kilograms (5,000 lb) of regular explosives, so the Mark IV could still create a huge explosion. In one way, the mission was a success. The military wanted to find out whether or not the B-36 could attack the Soviets during the Arctic winter, and they learned the answer—it couldn't. Due to the harsh weather conditions, three of the six engines failed. The crew was forced to bail out, but they first jettisoned the Mark IV and detonated it over the Inside Passage in Canada. Five of the 17 men aboard the B-36 died.

因爲這是模擬轟炸，所以飛機攜帶了一枚馬克4原子彈。儘管如此，軍方實際不想攻擊任何人，因此炸彈裏沒有核爆炸必須的鈈核。即便這樣，裏面仍然有2250公斤（5000磅）常規炸藥，馬克4依舊可以製造劇烈爆炸。從某方面講，這次行動成功了。軍方想知道B-36能否在北半球的冬天對蘇聯發動進攻，他們找到了答案——不能。由於天氣狀況惡劣，6個引擎有3個熄滅。機組被迫跳傘，但他們首先拋棄了馬克4，在加拿大內海航道上空將其引爆。機上共17人，其中5人罹難。

Bluff, South Carolina,1958

9.南卡羅來納州火星崖，1958

Mars Bluff isn't a sprawling metropolis with millions of people and giant skyscrapers. It's a tiny, unincorporated community located in Florence County, South Carolina. However, it does have one claim to fame—on March 11, 1958, Mars Bluff was accidentally bombed by the United States Air Force with a Mark 6 nuke.

火星崖並非正在擴展的大都會，沒有成千上百萬的人口，也沒有高聳入雲的摩天樓。它很小，是個沒有市政級別的居民社區，位於南卡羅來納州佛羅倫薩縣。然而，它卻一舉成名——1958年3月11日，火星崖竟然遭到美國空軍馬克6核彈轟炸。

A Boeing B-47E-LM Stratojet departed from Hunter Air Force Base in Savannah, Georgia and was headed to England. It was part of Operation Snow Flurry, in which bombers flew to England to perform mock drops to test their accuracy. The Boeing in question had a Mark VI nuclear bomb onboard. As with the British Columbia incident, the bomb was inactive but still had thousands of pounds of one is entirely the captain's fault. While he was performing checks on the bomb, he accidentally grabbed the emergency release pin. This released the bomb from its harness, and it fell right through the bomber doors to the ground 4,500 meters (15,000 ft) below. The bomb landed on the house of Walter Gregg. Fortunately, nobody was killed in the ensuing explosion, although Gregg and five other family members were injured. Gregg sued the Air Force and was awarded $54,000 in damages, which is almost $500,000 in today's money.

一架波音B-47E-LM噴氣式轟炸機離開佐治亞州薩凡納的亨特空軍基地，飛往英格蘭。這是"陣雪行動"的一部分，而整個行動要求轟炸機飛到英格蘭模擬發射導彈以測試其精確度。這架波音帶有一枚馬克6核彈。與不列顛哥倫比亞的事故相似，導彈沒有內核，但仍然有幾千磅炸藥。這一次責任全在機長。他檢查覈彈時，竟然碰到了緊急發射保險鎖。導彈從架子上掉下去，正好穿透轟炸機機門，落到4500米下的地面。炸彈落在沃爾特·格雷格家屋頂上，隨後爆炸。幸運的是，除了格雷格和他的5位家人，沒有其他人受傷。格雷格起訴空軍，得到54000美元賠償，相當於現在的500000美元。

t, North Dakota,2007

8.北達科他州邁諾特，2007

Don't think that fumbles with nuclear weapons are a thing of the past; the most recent such incident happened in 2007 at the Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota.

不要以爲核武器事故只發生在過去，最近一起發生在2007年北達科他州邁諾特空軍基地。

The mission was supposed to be pretty simple—deliver a load of unarmed AGM-129 ACM cruise missiles to a weapons graveyard. A dozen of them were loaded onto a B-52, six on each side. The officer in charge came and gave a quick inspection with a passing glance at the missiles on the right side before signing off on the mission. If he bothered to look on the left side, he would have noticed something quite interesting—the six missiles were all still armed with nuclear warheads, each with the power of 10 Hiroshima bombs. This fun fact went unnoticed for the next 36 hours. During that time, the missiles flew across the country to Louisiana without any kind of safety protocols in place or any other procedure normally required when transporting nuclear weapons. In the end, things turned out fine, which is why this incident was never classified as a broken arrow. Rather, it's a "bent spear," an event involving nuclear weapons of significant concern without involving detonation. Even so, when word got out, the public was quite distressed to find out exactly how easily six incredibly dangerous nuclear weapons can get misplaced through simple error.

這項任務原本很簡單——將大量沒有彈藥的AGM-129 ACM巡航導彈運送到武器試驗場地。其中12枚在一架B-52運輸機上面，兩邊各6枚。總指揮過來快速查看一番，示意飛機起飛前還掃視了右邊的導彈。如果他夠耐心，再看看左邊，他就會注意到一件有趣的事——6枚導彈仍舊帶有核彈頭，每一枚的威力都10倍於廣島的"小男孩"。在接下來的36個小時裏，這個問題一直沒有被發覺。在導彈穿越美國到達路易斯安那上空期間，軍方沒有準備任何應急方案或者經過運輸核武器需要的任何其他常規程序。最後的結果還好，這次事件也就不屬於"斷箭"。不如說它是"彎矛"——影響重大而沒有引爆核武器的事件。雖是這樣，當這個消息傳出去之後，公衆特別擔憂：6枚如此危險的核武器竟然因爲這麼簡單的錯誤就這麼放錯了位置!

e Island, Georgia,1958

7.佐治亞州泰碧島，1958

The year 1958 wasn't a brilliant year for the US military. This is the second of three broken arrow incidents that year, this time taking place in the waters off Tybee Island near Savannah, Georgia.

對美國軍隊而言，1958年真不是一個好年份。這是這一年3起核事件中的第二起，發生在泰碧島（在薩凡納附近）水域。

A 3,500-kilogram (7,600 lb) Mark 15 nuclear bomb was aboard a B-47 bomber engaged in standard practice exercises. What was not so standard was an accidental collision with an F-86 fighter plane, significantly damaging the B-47's wing. The bomber was barely airborne, so the crew jettisoned the bomb in preparation for an emergency landing. The bomb was jettisoned over the waters of the Savannah River. To the crew's surprise, they never heard an explosion. The pilot guided the bomber safely to the nearest air force base and even received a Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions. However, there was still one question left unanswered—where was the giant nuclear bomb?That's a question still unanswered today. The bomb was never found. Even now, over 55 years after the accident, people are still looking for it. Experts agree that the bomb ended up somewhere at the bottom of the Wassaw Sound, where it should still be today, buried under several feet of silt.

一枚重3500公斤（7600磅）的馬克15核彈被安放在一架B-47轟炸機上，這架轟炸機正要進行標準的實戰演練。不那麼達標的地方在於飛機竟然與一架F-86戰鬥機相撞，導致B-47機翼嚴重受損。飛機仍在空中，機組扔掉炸彈，準備緊急着陸。炸彈是在薩凡納河水域上空投放的。讓機組驚訝的是，他們沒有聽見爆炸的聲音。飛行員帶領飛機安全到達最近的軍事基地，甚至因爲這次表現而獲得一枚傑出飛行十字勳章。但是，還有一個問題沒有答案——那枚巨大的核彈在哪兒？這個問題至今無解。這枚炸彈從沒找到。甚至55年後的今天，人們還在尋找。專家認爲炸彈在海底某個地方爆炸了，殘骸現在還在那兒，埋在幾英尺的淤泥下。

terranean Sea,1956

6.地中海，1956

The military does have a tendency to lose a nuclear weapon every now and then without ever recovering it. However, in these cases, they at least have some idea of where the bombs ended up. That is not the case with this broken arrow. It is, without a doubt, the most mysterious incident of its kind.

軍方總是偶爾遺失核武器，然後再也找不回來。但是，在這些事例中，他們至少大概知道炸彈落在何方。而這個事件的情況卻非如此。毫無疑問，這是最離奇的事故了。

On March 10, 1956, a B-47 Stratojet took off from MacDill Air Force Base in Florida carrying capsules with nuclear weapon cores. It was headed to a then-undisclosed foreign military base, later revealed to be Ben Guerir Air Base in Morocco. During the flight, the bomber was supposed to undergo two aerial refueling sessions. The first one went off without a hitch. When the second tanker arrived to meet up with the B-47, the bomber was nowhere to be it was never found again. It had disappeared without a trace over the Mediterranean Sea. The Royal Navy organized extensive searches assisted by French and Moroccan troops stationed in the area. The best they could come up with is a report that the plane went down somewhere near a coastal village in Algeria called Port Say. The plane and its cargo was eventually classified "lost at sea," and the three crew members were declared dead.

1956年3月10日，一架B-47噴氣式轟炸機在佛羅里達州邁克迪爾空軍基地起飛，機上載着裝有核武器內核的彈藥艙。飛機要飛往當時還未公開一個外國軍事基地，後來披露是摩洛哥的本格里空軍基地。在飛行途中，據說轟炸機在空中加了兩次油。第一次順利完成。當第二架加油機抵達與B-47碰面的位置時，B-47卻不見了。這架飛機再也沒有被找到過。他在地中海上空毫無痕跡地消失了。皇家海軍組織力量展開廣泛搜尋，還得到了這一區域內法國和摩洛哥駐軍的幫助。他們得到的最好結果就是一份報告：飛機在靠近一個叫做塞灣的地方墜毀，在阿爾及利亞一個濱海村莊附近。飛機和機上的東西最後被認定"墜入海中"，3名機組成員被宣告死亡。

編輯：Amy 來源：前十網