7. A U.S. Air Force bomber crashed into three nuclear bombs in England
On July 27, 1956, a USAF B-47 bomber on a routine training mission crashed into a storage igloo containing three MK-6 nuclear weapons at Lakenheath Royal Air Force Station in Suffolk, United Kingdom. The crash at RAF Lakenheath killed four crewman aboard the aircraft, severely damaged the stored nuclear bombs, each of which carried approximately 8,000 pounds of high explosives, and dispensed burning fuel over the three MK-6 devices. Despite the crashing, damage to and exposure of the detonators, and the resultant fire, the weapons did not explode and the damaged bombs were successfully salvaged.
The official report from the incident cited the preliminary bomb disposal examination which concluded that it was “a miracle that one mark six with exposed detonators sheared didn’t go”, releasing substantial radioactive material into the surrounding region. As one retired Air Force general later described “it is possible that a part of Eastern England would have become a desert”, whilst an Air Force officer present at the event subsequently commented that only “a combination of tremendous heroism, good fortune and the will of God” averted a horrific accident of unimaginable consequence.