15. A B-52 ran out of fuel and crashed with two nuclear weapons in California
On March 14, 1961, a USAF B-52 bomb based out of Mather Air Force Base near Sacramento, California, suffered a malfunction in the crew compartment pressurization system which triggered a decompression event. The depressurization of the bomber forced it to decrease its altitude to below 10,000 feet, and in so doing expended fuel at a faster rate than previously anticipated. Before rendezvous with a tanker aircraft could be arranged for refueling, the B-52 suffered fuel exhaustion and begun crashing.
At this point the crew bailed out at approximately 10,000 feet, except for the aircraft’s commander who elected to remain on the aircraft until 4,000 feet to steer the plane away from populated areas. The bomber crashed near Yuba City, California, with the force of the ground impact flinging the two nuclear weapons from the aircraft. However due to the aforementioned tightening of safety procedures and mechanisms after the “Goldsboro incident” months earlier, neither device either exploded or detonated and there was no nuclear contamination of the area.