View source for 1966 Palomares incident

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Short description|Collision between a USAF B-52G and KC-135 over the Mediterranean Sea near Spain}}
{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
| occurrence_type = Collision
| image           = Palomares H-Bomb Incident.jpg
| image_upright   = 1.15
| caption         = The [[B28 nuclear bomb|B28FI nuclear bomb]], recovered from {{convert|2850|ft|m}} of water, on the deck of the {{USS|Petrel|ASR-14|6}}.
| date            = 17 January 1966
| type            = [[Mid-air collision]]
| site            = [[Mediterranean Sea]] near [[Palomares, Almería|Palomares]], [[Province of Almería|Almería]], Spain
| coords          = {{coord|37|14|57|N|1|47|49|W|region:ES-AL_type:event_source:dewiki|display=inline,title}}
| total_fatalities = 7
| total_survivors = 4
| plane1_image    = Boeing B-52G Stratofortress, USA - Air Force AN1449236.jpg
| plane1_image_upright = 1.15
| plane1_caption  = 58-0192, an aircraft similar to the B-52 involved
| plane1_type     = [[Boeing B-52 Stratofortress|Boeing B-52G Stratofortress]]
| plane1_tailnum  = 58-0256
| plane1_operator = [[Strategic Air Command]], [[United States Air Force]]
| plane1_crew     = 7
| plane1_origin   = [[Seymour Johnson Air Force Base]]<br/>[[North Carolina]], United States
| plane1_destination = Seymour Johnson Air Force Base
| occupants       = 7
| plane1_fatalities = 3
| plane1_survivors = 4
| plane2_image    = Barksdale Global Power Museum September 2015 51 (Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker).jpg
| plane2_image_upright = 1.15
| plane2_caption  = 56-3595, an aircraft similar to the second aircraft involved
| plane2_type     = [[KC-135 Stratotanker]]
| plane2_tailnum  = 61-0273
| plane2_operator = United States Air Force
| plane2_origin   = [[Morón Air Base]], Spain
| plane2_destination = Morón Air Base
| plane2_occupants = 4
| plane2_crew     = 4
| plane2_fatalities = 4
| plane2_survivors = 0
}}

The '''Palomares incident''' occurred on 17 January 1966, when a [[Boeing B-52 Stratofortress#Variants|B-52G bomber]] of the [[United States Air Force]]'s [[Strategic Air Command]] collided with a [[Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker|KC-135 tanker]] during [[mid-air refueling]] at {{convert|31000|ft|m|-1}} over the [[Mediterranean Sea]], off the coast of [[Francoist Spain|Spain]]. The KC-135 was destroyed when its fuel load ignited, killing all four crew members. The B-52G broke apart, killing three of the seven crew members aboard.<ref name="hayes">{{Cite news|last=Hayes |first=Ron |date=17 January 2007 |title=H-bomb incident crippled pilot's career |work=Palm Beach Post|url=http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/01/17/m1a_Hbomb_0117.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091708/http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/01/17/m1a_Hbomb_0117.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=17 |archive-date=29 September 2007 |access-date=5 October 2017}}</ref>

At the time of the accident, the B-52G was carrying four [[B28 nuclear bomb|B28FI Mod 2 Y1]] [[Thermonuclear weapon|thermonuclear (hydrogen) bomb]]s,<ref name="SandiaReport">{{Cite report|title=SC-DR-66-397 B-51/KC-135 Collision near Palomares, Spain (U)|author=S V Asselin|publisher=[[Sandia National Labs]]|date=August 1966}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first=Randall C. |last=Maydew |title=America's Lost H-Bomb: Palomares, Spain, 1966 |publisher=Sunflower University Press |isbn=978-0-89745-214-4 |year=1997}}</ref><ref name="Accidents">{{Cite report|title=A Summary of Accidents and Significant Incidents Involving US Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Weapon Systems (U)|publisher=[[Sandia National Labs]]|date=1990}}</ref> all of which fell to the surface. Three were found on land near the small fishing village of [[Palomares, Almería|Palomares]] in  [[Almería]], Spain. The non-nuclear explosives in two of the weapons detonated upon impact with the ground, causing the dispersal of radioactive [[plutonium]], which [[Radioactive contamination|contaminated]] a {{convert|2|km2|sp=us|adj=on|order=flip}} area. The fourth, which fell into the [[Mediterranean Sea]], was recovered intact after a search lasting two and a half months.<ref name=long>{{Cite magazine |last=Long |first=Tony |date=17 January 2008 |url=https://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/01/dayintech_0117 |title=Jan. 17, 1966: H-Bombs Rain Down on a Spanish Fishing Village |magazine=WIRED |access-date=16 February 2008 |archive-date=3 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203112702/http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/01/dayintech_0117 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Accident==
[[File:Operation Chrome Dome route.jpg|thumb|right|[[Operation Chrome Dome]] [[flight path]] over southern Europe, showing refueling tracks]]

The B-52G began its mission from [[Seymour Johnson Air Force Base]], [[North Carolina]], carrying four [[B28 nuclear bomb|B28FI Mod 2 Y1 thermonuclear bombs]] on a [[Cold War]] airborne alert mission named [[Operation Chrome Dome]]. The flight plan took the aircraft east across the Atlantic Ocean and [[Mediterranean Sea]] towards the European borders of the [[Soviet Union]] before returning home. The lengthy flight required two [[mid-air refueling]]s over Spain.<ref name=hayes/>

At about 10:30&nbsp;am on 17 January 1966, while flying at {{convert|31000|ft|m|-1}}, the bomber commenced its second aerial refueling with a [[Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker|KC-135]] out of [[Morón Air Base]] in southern Spain. The B-52 pilot, Major Larry G. Messinger, later recalled,<ref name=moran>{{Cite web
 | last=Moran | first=Barbara | date=Fall 2004
 | url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/2004/2/2004_2_28.shtml
 | title=The Day They Lost the H-bomb – and How They Got It Back
 | publisher=Invention & Technology
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060506213400/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/2004/2/2004_2_28.shtml
 | archive-date=6 May 2006
 | access-date=5 October 2017 }}</ref>

{{quote|We came in behind the tanker, and we were a little bit fast, and we started to overrun him a little bit. There is a procedure they have in refueling where if the boom operator feels that you're getting too close and it's a dangerous situation, he will call, "Break away, break away, break away." There was no call for a break away, so we didn't see anything dangerous about the situation. But all of a sudden, all hell seemed to break loose.}}

[[File:KC-135 Stratotanker boom operator.jpg|thumb|left|Boom operator's view of a B-52 from a KC-135 tanker]]
The planes collided, with the nozzle of the refueling boom striking the top of the B-52 fuselage, breaking a [[longeron]] and snapping off the left wing,<ref name=megara/><ref name=Lewis>{{Cite book
 | last=Lewis | first=Flora | year=1967
 | title=One of Our H-Bombs is Missing
 | publisher=McGraw-Hill | oclc=784834 }}</ref> which resulted in an explosion that was witnessed by a second B-52 about a mile ({{convert|1|mi|km|disp=out}}) away.<ref name="SummaryReport">{{Cite web|url=http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA955702|title=Palomares Summary Report|author=Defense Nuclear Agency Kirtland AFB NM Technology and Analysis Directorate|publisher=[[Defense Technical Information Center]]|date=15 January 1975|access-date=5 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624194132/http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA955702|archive-date=24 June 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> All four men on the KC-135 and three of the seven men on the bomber were killed.

{{Location map+|Spain|relief=1|width=200|float=right|caption=Spain|places=
  {{Location map~|Spain|lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=37|lat_min=14|lat_sec=55|lon_deg=1|lon_min=47|lon_sec=45|label=[[Palomares, Almería|Palomares]]|position=right}}
  {{Location map~|Spain|lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=37|lat_min=10|lat_sec=29|lon_deg=5|lon_min=36|lon_sec=57|label=[[Morón Air Base|Morón&nbsp;Air&nbsp;Base]]|position=top}}
}}

Those killed in the tanker were boom operator Master Sergeant Lloyd Potolicchio, pilot Major Emil J. Chapla, co-pilot Captain Paul R. Lane, and navigator Captain Leo E. Simmons.

On board the bomber, navigator First Lieutenant Steven G. Montanus, electronic warfare officer First Lieutenant George J. Glessner, and gunner Technical Sergeant Ronald P. Snyder were killed.<ref name=megara>{{Cite web
 |last=Megara 
 |first=John 
 |url=http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-04102006-115019/unrestricted/jmm_thesis.pdf 
 |title=Dropping Nuclear Bombs on Spain, The Palomares Accident of 1966 and the U.S. Airborne Alert 
 |publisher=Florida State University 
 |access-date=17 February 2008 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226223704/http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-04102006-115019/unrestricted/jmm_thesis.pdf 
 |archive-date=26 February 2008 
 |url-status=dead 
}}</ref><ref name=Lewis/> Montanus was seated on the lower deck of the main cockpit and was able to eject from the plane, but his parachute never opened.<ref name=megara/> Glessner and Snyder were on the upper deck, near the point where the refueling boom struck the fuselage, and were not able to eject.<ref name=Lewis/>

Four of the seven crew members of the bomber managed to parachute to safety: in addition to pilot Major Messinger, aircraft commander Captain Charles F. Wendorf, copilot First Lieutenant Michael J. Rooney, and radar-navigator Captain Ivens Buchanan successfully bailed out.<ref name=hayes/><ref>{{Cite web | author=Staff | year=2003 | url=http://www.atomicmuseum.com/Tour/cw4.cfm | title=Broken Arrow | publisher=National Atomic Museum | access-date=14 February 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216221848/http://www.atomicmuseum.com/Tour/cw4.cfm | archive-date=16 February 2008 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref> Buchanan received burns from the explosion and was unable to separate himself from his ejection seat, but he was nevertheless able to open his parachute, and survived the impact with the ground. The other three surviving crew members landed safely several miles out to sea.<ref name=moran/>

The Palomares residents carried Buchanan to a local clinic, while Wendorf and Rooney were picked up at sea by the fishing boat ''Dorita''. The last to be rescued was Messinger, who spent 45 minutes in the water before he was brought aboard the fishing boat ''Agustin y Rosa'' by Francisco Simó. All three men who landed in the sea were taken to a hospital in [[Águilas]].<ref name=hayes/>

==Weapons==

The weapons lost during the accident were four [[B28 nuclear bomb|B28FI Mod 2 Y1]] thermonuclear bombs.<ref name="Accidents"/>

The letters '''FI''' indicated B28 bombs configured in the full fuzing internal configuration. A full fuzing capability means the weapons could be delivered via all bomb delivery options, including free-fall [[air burst|airburst]], retarded airburst, freefall [[ground burst|groundburst]] and [[laydown delivery|laydown groundburst delivery]].<ref name=b28history>{{cite report |date=August 1968 |title=History of the Mk 28 Weapon|url=https://osf.io/zyktv/ |publisher=Sandia National Laboratories |access-date=27 March 2021 |archive-date=7 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707115829/https://osf.io/zyktv/ |url-status=live |ref={{harvid|History of the Mk 28 Weapon}}|page=36}}</ref> In this configuration, the [[W28 (nuclear warhead)|W28 warhead]] was fitted between a Mk28 Mod 3F shock-absorbing nose and a Mk28 Mod 0 FISC rear end containing a parachute. The shock-absorbing nose enabled the weapon to survive laydown delivery, while the parachute slowed the weapon down in retarded airburst and laydown delivery.{{sfn|History of the Mk 28 Weapon|pp=37–38}}

The '''Mod 2''' nomenclature indicates the hardened version of the weapon designed to survive laydown delivery; earlier Mod 0 and Mod 1 weapons could not survive the forces involved.{{sfn|History of the Mk 28 Weapon|p=36}} The '''Y1''' nomenclature indicates a W28 warhead with a yield of {{convert|1.1|MtTNT|TJ}}.<ref name=nukearc>{{cite web |first=Carey |last=Sublette |url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Weapons/B61.html |title=Complete List of All U.S. Nuclear Weapons |website=Nuclear weapon archive |date=12 June 2020 |access-date=2021-03-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227003412/http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Weapons/allbombs.html |archive-date=2009-02-27}}</ref>

==Weapons recovery==
The aircraft and weapons fell to the ground near the fishing village of [[Palomares, Almería|Palomares]], part of the [[Cuevas del Almanzora]] municipality in [[Almería (province)|Almeria province]], Spain. Three of the weapons were located on land within 24 hours of the accident—the conventional explosives in two had exploded on impact, spreading [[radioactive contamination]], while a third was found relatively intact in a riverbed. The fourth weapon could not be found despite an intensive search of the area—the only part that was recovered was the parachute tail plate, leading searchers to postulate that the weapon's parachute had deployed, and that the wind had carried it out to sea.<ref name=hayes/><ref name=long/><ref name="Nuclear Safety">USAF Nuclear Safety, 1966.</ref>

On 22 January, the Air Force contacted the U.S. Navy for assistance. The Navy convened a Technical Advisory Group (TAG), chaired by Rear Admiral L. V. Swanson with Dr. [[John P. Craven]] and Captain [[Willard Franklyn Searle]], to identify resources and skilled personnel that needed to be moved to Spain.<ref name=faceplate2006>{{Cite journal |author=Moody, D. H. |title=40th Anniversary of Palomares |journal=Faceplate |publisher=Naval Sea Systems Command |url=http://www.supsalv.org/pdf/FACEPLATESept06.pdf |access-date=15 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716105654/http://www.supsalv.org/pdf/FACEPLATESept06.pdf |archive-date=16 July 2011 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

The search for the fourth bomb was carried out by means of a novel mathematical method, [[Bayesian search theory]], led by Craven.<ref name=faceplate2006/> This method assigns [[probabilities]] to individual map grid squares, then updates these as the search progresses. Initial probability input is required for the grid squares, and these probabilities made use of the fact that a local fisherman, Francisco Simó Orts,<ref name=long/> popularly known since as {{lang|es|"Paco el de la bomba}} ("Bomb Paco" or "Bomb Frankie"),<ref name="elpais"/> witnessed the bomb entering the water at a certain location. Simó Orts was hired by the U.S. Air Force to assist in the search operation.

The United States Navy assembled the following ships in response to the Air Force request for assistance:<ref>Melson, June 1967, pp. 26–39.</ref>
[[File:ALVIN submersible.jpg|thumb|upright|right|''Alvin'' submersible]]
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* {{USS|Kiowa|ATF-72|6}}, a [[Navajo class fleet tug]], arrived 27 January,<ref>{{Cite book | first=Barbara | last=Moran | year=2009 | title=The Day We Lost the H-Bomb: Cold War, Hot Nukes, and the Worst Nuclear Weapons Disaster in History | page=[https://archive.org/details/daywelosthbombco00mora_0/page/95 95] | publisher=Random House, Inc. | isbn=978-0-89141-904-4 | url=https://archive.org/details/daywelosthbombco00mora_0/page/95 }}</ref> first on scene{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}}
* {{USS|Macdonough|DDG-39|6}}, flagship through January
* {{USS|Nimble|AM-459|6}}
* {{USS|Pinnacle|MSO-462|6}}, found UQS-1 SONAR contact where Francisco Simo-Orts saw the bomb fall
* {{USS|Rival|MSO-468|6}}, mother ship for PC3B submersible
* {{USS|Sagacity|MSO-469|6}}, confirmed ''Pinnacle'''s SONAR contact
* {{USS|Salute|MSO-470|6}}
* {{USS|Skill|MSO-471|6}}
* {{USS|Nespelen|AOG-55|6}}
* {{USS|Fort Snelling|LSD-30|6}}, served as a support ship for the submersibles
* {{USS|Boston|CAG-1|6}}, flagship 30 January – 15 March
* {{USS|Albany|CG-10|6}}, flagship 15 March through April
* {{USS|Notable|MSO-460|6}}, minesweeper of Minesweeper Division 85 out of Charleston, SC, supported both submersibles ‘’Aluminaut’’ and ‘’Alvin’’ during the search; [[Jon Lindbergh]] piloted the "Alvin" submersible and supported the Westinghouse ocean-bottom, side-scanning sonar (OBSS). That sonar array, deployed beneath the USS Notable, may have detected the nuclear bomb which was still aboard the B-52 bomber when it entered the water. {{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}
* {{USS|Plymouth Rock|LSD-29|6}}, transported ''Aluminaut'' and ''Alvin'' to the search site
* {{USS|Petrel|ASR-14|6}}
* {{USS|Tringa|ASR-16|6}}
* {{USS|Charles R. Ware|DD-865|6}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=USS Charles R. Ware DD-865 |url=http://www.usscharlesrwaredd865.com/dd865history.htm |publisher=Danny Dannenfeldt, BM3 |year=2006 |access-date=10 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717180344/http://www.usscharlesrwaredd865.com/dd865history.htm |archive-date=17 July 2011  }}</ref>
* {{USS|Hoist|ARS-40|6}}
* {{USS|Lindenwald|LSD-6|6}}, transported ''Aluminaut'' to Miami, Florida, after Palomares incident
* {{USNS|Mizar|T-AGOR-11|6}}
* {{USNS|Dutton|T-AGS-22|6}}
* [[DSV Alvin|DSV ''Alvin'']]
* ''[[Aluminaut]]''
* PC-3B (Ocean Systems, Inc. submersible capable of searching to {{convert|600|ft|m}})
* Deep Jeep (a Navy submersible capable of diving to {{convert|2000|feet|m}})
* [[CURV|CURV-I]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20161118102011/http://www.public.navy.mil/spawar/Pacific/Robotics/Pages/CURV.aspx] (Cable-Controlled Underwater Recovery Vehicle)
* {{USS|Luiseno|ATF-156|6}}, removed aircraft wreck debris from the search site
* {{USS|Everglades|AD-24|6}}, removed aircraft wreck debris from the search site
* {{USNS|Lt. George W. G. Boyce|T-AK-251|6}}, removed radioactive contaminated soil from Spain.
{{div col end}}

Additionally, the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Forrestal|CV-59|6}} and various other units of the [[United States Sixth Fleet|Sixth Fleet]] made a brief stopover at Palomares on the morning of 15 March 1966; Forrestal anchored at 09:03 and departed at 12:19.<ref>NAVPERS-719 DECK LOG – REMARKS SHEET USS Forrestal CVA-59 dated Tuesday, 15 March 1966, 08–12 watch and 12–16 watch, and obtained from the National Archives and Records Administration in July 2015.</ref>

The recovery operation was led by the Supervisor of Salvage, Captain Searle.<ref name=faceplate2006/> ''Hoist'', ''Petrel'' and ''Tringa'' brought 150 qualified divers who searched to {{convert|120|feet|m}} with compressed air, to {{convert|210|feet|m}} with mixed gas, and to {{convert|350|ft|m}} with hard-hat rigs;<ref name="Melson, June 1967, p.37">Melson, June 1967, p. 37.</ref> but the bomb lay in an uncharted area of the Rio Almanzora canyon on a 70-degree slope at a depth of {{convert|2550|ft|m}}.<ref name="Melson, June 1967, p.37"/> After a search that continued for 80 days following the crash, the bomb was located by the [[Deep-submergence vehicle|DSV]] [[DSV Alvin|''Alvin'']] on 17 March, but was dropped and temporarily lost when the Navy attempted to bring it to the surface.<ref>Melson, June 1967, pp. 38–39.</ref> After the loss of the recovered bomb, the ship's positions were fixed by [[Decca Navigator System#Other applications|Decca HI-FIX]] position-locating equipment for subsequent recovery attempts.<ref>{{cite web |title=World News: US Navy Award for Decca |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1967/1967%20-%200746.html |publisher=Flightglobal/Archive |work=Flight International |page=728 |date=11 May 1967 |access-date=8 July 2016 |archive-date=25 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825225411/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1967/1967%20-%200746.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:1966 Palomares B-52 crash - recovered H-bomb.jpg|thumb|left|The recovered thermonuclear bomb displayed on the fantail of the submarine rescue ship {{USS|Petrel|ASR-14|6}} after it was located by [[DSV Alvin|DSV ''Alvin'']] and recovered by [[CURV|CURV-I]], pictured, at a depth of {{convert|2500|ft|m|-1}}]]
''Alvin'' located the bomb again on 2 April, this time at a depth of {{convert|2900|ft|m}}.<ref name="Nuclear Safety"/> On 7 April, an unmanned torpedo recovery vehicle, [[CURV|CURV-I]], became entangled in the weapon's parachute while attempting to attach a line to it. A decision was made to raise CURV and the weapon together to a depth of {{convert|100|ft|m}}, where divers attached cables to both. The bomb was brought to the surface by {{USS|Petrel|ASR-14|6}}. The {{USS|Cascade|AD-16|6}} was diverted from its Naples destination, stayed on scene until recovery, then took the bomb back to the United States.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}}

Once the bomb was located, Simó Orts appeared at the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]] with his lawyer, [[Herbert Brownell Jr.|Herbert Brownell]], formerly [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] of the United States under President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], claiming [[marine salvage|salvage rights]] on the recovered thermonuclear bomb. According to Craven:<ref>{{Cite book | last=Craven | first=John Piña | title=The Silent War | publisher=Simon and Schuster | year=2001 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/silentwarcoldwar00crav/page/174 174–175] | isbn=978-0-684-87213-1 | url=https://archive.org/details/silentwarcoldwar00crav/page/174 }}</ref>

{{quote|It is customary [[Admiralty law|maritime law]] that the person who identifies the location of a ship to be salved has the right to a salvage award if that identification leads to a successful recovery. The amount is nominal, usually 1 or 2 percent, sometimes a bit more, of the intrinsic value to the owner of the thing salved. But the thing salved off Palomares was a thermonuclear bomb, the same bomb valued by no less an authority than the Secretary of Defense at $2&nbsp;billion—each percent of which is, of course, $20&nbsp;million.}} The Air Force settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.<ref name="long"/> In later years, Simó Orts was heard to complain that the Americans had promised him financial compensation but had not kept their promise.<ref name="elpais">{{cite news|title=Necrológico: Francisco Simó, 'Paco el de la bomba' de Palomares|trans-title=Obituary: Francisco Simó|url=http://elpais.com/m/diario/2003/09/08/agenda/1062972010_850215.html|access-date=7 November 2015|work=El País|date=8 September 2003|ref=simo-obit|language=es|archive-date=1 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901062552/https://elpais.com/diario/2003/09/08/agenda/1062972010_850215.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Contamination==
At 10:40 [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]], the accident was reported at the
[[Command Post]] of the [[Sixteenth Air Force]], and was confirmed at 11:22.
The commander of the U.S. Air Force at [[Torrejón Air Base]], Spain, Major General Delmar E. Wilson, immediately traveled to the scene of the accident with a
Disaster Control Team. Further Air Force personnel were dispatched later the same day, including nuclear experts from U.S. government laboratories.<ref>{{Cite book
 | first1=James C. | last1=Oskins | first2=Michael H. | last2=Maggelet 
 | title=Broken Arrow – The Declassified History of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Accidents
 | year=2008 | publisher=Lulu.com | isbn=978-1-4357-0361-2 }}</ref>

The first weapon to be discovered was found nearly intact. However, the conventional explosives from the other two bombs that fell on land detonated without setting off a nuclear explosion (akin to a [[dirty bomb]] explosion). This ignited the [[Pyrophoricity|pyrophoric]] plutonium, producing a cloud that was dispersed by a {{convert|30|kn|adj=on}} wind. A total of {{convert|2.6|km2|sqmi|1}} was contaminated with radioactive material. This included residential areas, farmland (especially tomato farms) and woods.<ref name="er97"/>

To defuse public alarm over contamination, on 8 March<ref name="jcws8"/> Spanish minister for information and tourism [[Manuel Fraga Iribarne]] and United States ambassador [[Angier Biddle Duke]] swam on nearby beaches in front of the press.<ref name=geitner/> First the ambassador and some companions swam at [[Mojácar]]<ref name="jcws8"/>&nbsp;— a resort {{convert|15|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} away&nbsp;— and then Duke and Fraga swam at the Quitapellejos beach in Palomares.<ref>[http://www.elalmeria.es/article/almeria/1160849/bano/y/meyba/pasaron/la/historia.html ''Un baño y un Meyba que pasaron a la historia''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121213052633/http://www.elalmeria.es/article/almeria/1160849/bano/y/meyba/pasaron/la/historia.html |date=13 December 2012 }} El Almería, 17 January 2012 {{in lang|es}}</ref>

Despite the cost and the number of personnel involved in the cleanup, traces of contamination remained forty years later. Snails were observed with unusual levels of radioactivity.<ref name="La maldición de Palomares">{{Cite book|last=Bejarano|first=José|title=La maldición de Palomares|location=La Vanguardia|date=19 November 2004|url=http://petra2.ciemat.es/interno/noticias/20041122/00011958.tif|language=es| access-date= 31 May 2007 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070705174834/http://petra2.ciemat.es/interno/noticias/20041122/00011958.tif| archive-date= 5 July 2007| url-status= dead}}</ref> Additional tracts of land were also appropriated for testing and further cleanup. However, no indication of health issues has been discovered among the local population in Palomares.<ref name=geitner>{{Cite news | last=Geitner | first=Paul | date=11 September 2008 | title=Spanish Town Struggles to Forget Its Moment on the Brink of a Nuclear Cataclysm | work=The New York Times | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/world/europe/12spain.html | access-date=5 November 2008 | archive-date=28 January 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100128030844/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/world/europe/12spain.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

==Political consequences==
President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] was first apprised of the situation during his morning briefing on the day of the accident. He was told that the 16th Nuclear Disaster Team had been sent to investigate, per the standard procedures for this type of accident. News stories on the crash began appearing the following day, and it was on the front page of both the ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' and ''[[The Washington Post|Washington Post]]'' on 20 January. Reporters sent to the accident scene covered angry demonstrations by local residents. On 4 February, an underground [[Communism|Communist]] organization initiated a protest by 600 people in front of the U.S. Embassy in Spain.<ref name="jcws8">{{Cite journal | last=Stiles | first=David | title=A Fusion Bomb over Andalucia: U.S. Information Policy and the 1966 Palomares Incident | journal=Journal of Cold War Studies | year=2006 | volume=8 | issue=1 | pages=49–67 | url=http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/jcws.2006.8.1..pdf | access-date=21 October 2008 | doi=10.1162/152039706775212067 | s2cid=57571313 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081031001648/http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/jcws.2006.8.1..pdf | archive-date=31 October 2008 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref> The [[Duke of Medina Sidonia|Duchess of Medina Sidonia]], [[Luisa Isabel Álvarez de Toledo, 21st Duchess of Medina Sidonia|Luisa Isabel Álvarez de Toledo]] (known as the "Red Duchess" for her [[Socialism|socialist]] activism), eventually received a 13-month prison sentence for leading an illegal protest.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Duchess of Medina Sidonia: Aristocrat whose radicalism earned her the title 'Red Duchess'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/the-duchess-of-medina-sidonia-aristocrat-whose-radicalism-earned-her-the-title-red-duchess-796812.html|newspaper=The Independent|date=17 March 2008|access-date=23 August 2017|archive-date=7 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807021020/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/the-duchess-of-medina-sidonia-aristocrat-whose-radicalism-earned-her-the-title-red-duchess-796812.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Four days after the accident, the [[Seventh government of Francisco Franco|Spanish government]] under [[Francisco Franco|Franco's]] [[Francoist Spain|dictatorship]] stated that "the Palomares incident was evidence of the dangers created by [[NATO|NATO's]] use of the [[RAF Gibraltar|Gibraltar airstrip]]", announcing that NATO aircraft would no longer be permitted to fly over Spanish territory to or from Gibraltar.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times
 | title=Spain bans overflying by NATO | page=8 |column=A | date=22 January 1966 }}</ref> On 25 January, as a diplomatic concession, the U.S. announced that it would no longer fly over Spain with nuclear weapons, and on 29 January the Spanish government formally banned U.S. flights over its territory that carried such weapons. This caused other nations hosting U.S. forces to review their policies, with [[Philippines|Philippine]] [[Secretary of Foreign Affairs (Philippines)|Foreign Secretary]] [[Narciso Ramos]] calling for a new treaty to restrict the operation of U.S. military aircraft in Filipino airspace.<ref name=jcws8/>

Palomares, and the [[1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash|Thule Air Base B-52 crash]] involving nuclear weapons two years later in [[Greenland]], made [[Operation Chrome Dome]] politically untenable, leading the U.S. Department of Defense to announce that it would be "re-examining the military need" for continuing the program.<ref>{{Cite news
 |first=John W. | last=Finney | date=28 February 1968
 | title=U.S. Reviews Need for H-Bomb Alert | pages=1
 | work=[[The New York Times|New York Times]] }}</ref>

As of 2024, there is no museum or monument dedicated to the accident in the town of Palomares, which is noted only by a short street there named "17 January 1966".<ref name=geitner/>

==Cleanup==
During cleanup, soil with radioactive contamination levels above 1.2&nbsp;[[Becquerel|MBq]]/m<sup>2</sup> was placed in 250-litre (66 U.S. gallon) drums and shipped to the [[Savannah River Site|Savannah River Plant]] in [[South Carolina]] for burial. A total of {{convert|2.2|ha|acre}} was decontaminated this way, producing 6,000 barrels. {{convert|17|ha|acre}} of land with lower levels of contamination were mixed to a depth of {{convert|30|cm|in}} by harrowing and plowing. On rocky slopes with contamination above 120&nbsp;kBq/m<sup>2</sup>, the soil was removed with hand tools and shipped to the U.S. in barrels.<ref name="er97">{{Cite book| year=1997
 | title=Environmental radioactivity: from natural, industrial and military sources | url=https://archive.org/details/environmentalrad00eise_374
 | url-access=limited
 | isbn=0-12-235154-1
 | page=[https://archive.org/details/environmentalrad00eise_374/page/n455 429] | publisher=Academic Press | first1=Merril | last1=Eisenbud | first2=Thomas F. | last2=Gesell }}</ref>

[[File:Palomares barrels.jpg|thumb|left|Barrels of contaminated soil being prepared for removal to the United States for processing]]
In 2004, a study revealed that there was still some significant contamination present in certain areas, and the Spanish government subsequently expropriated some plots of land which would otherwise have been slated for agriculture use or housing construction.<ref>Méndez, Rafael (10 December 2010). [http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/Palomares/50000/metros/contaminados/plutonio/elpepuesp/20101210elpepunac_30/Tes "Palomares: 50.000 metros contaminados con plutonio"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513065032/http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/Palomares/50000/metros/contaminados/plutonio/elpepuesp/20101210elpepunac_30/Tes |date=13 May 2011 }}. ''EL Pais''. ''El Ciemat comenzó a realizar un detallado estudio tridimensional de la contaminación: expropió los terrenos de las bombas, tomó 325.000 muestras con un georradar en 6,6 millones de metros cuadrados de suelo y analizó 1.848 muestras de tierra. En un informe preliminar, de junio de 2007, el Ciemat admitió que había contaminación fuera de las zonas valladas y expropiadas y el CSN replicó que la contaminación detectada se podría superar la dosis de radiación admisible para el público, lo que obligó a "imponer restricciones totales o parciales" al uso del suelo.''</ref>

On 11 October 2006, [[Reuters]] reported that higher-than-normal levels of radiation were detected in snails and other wildlife in the region, indicating there may still be dangerous amounts of radioactive material underground.<ref name="La maldición de Palomares"/> The discovery occurred during an investigation being carried out by Spain's energy research agency [[CIEMAT]] and the [[United States Department of Energy|U.S. Department of Energy]]. The U.S. and Spain agreed to share the cost of the initial investigation.

In April 2008, CIEMAT announced they had found two trenches, totaling {{convert|2000|m3|ft3}}, where the U.S. Army stored contaminated earth during the 1966 operations. The American government agreed in 2004 to pay for the decontamination of the grounds, and the cost of the removal and transportation of the contaminated earth has been estimated at $2&nbsp;million. The trenches were found near the cemetery, where one of the nuclear devices was retrieved in 1966, and they were probably dug at the last moment by American troops before leaving Palomares. CIEMAT said that they expected to find remains of plutonium and [[americium]] once an exhaustive analysis of the earth had been carried out.<ref>{{Cite news
 | last=Méndez |first=Rafael
 | date=10 April 2008
 | title=España halla las zanjas radiactivas que EE UU ocultó en Palomares
 | publisher=El País | language=es
 | url=http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/Espana/halla/zanjas/radiactivas/EE/UU/oculto/Palomares/elpepusoc/20080410elpepisoc_2/Tes
 | access-date=12 April 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080512024124/http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/Espana/halla/zanjas/radiactivas/EE/UU/oculto/Palomares/elpepusoc/20080410elpepisoc_2/Tes| archive-date= 12 May 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>
<ref>{{Cite web
 |author      = h.b.
 |date        = 10 April 2008
 |title       = Spain finds trenches of radioactive earth buried at Palomares
 |publisher   = typicallyspanish.com
 |url         = http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_16011.shtml
 |access-date  = 12 April 2008
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080412031303/http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_16011.shtml
 |archive-date = 12 April 2008
 |url-status     = dead
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref>
In a conversation in December 2009, Spanish Foreign Minister [[Miguel Ángel Moratinos]] told the U.S. Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]] that he feared Spanish public opinion might turn against the U.S. once results of the nuclear contamination study were revealed.<ref>{{Cite news
 |last       = Clinton
 |first      = Hillary
 |date       = 18 December 2009
 |title      = Secretary Clinton's December 14, 2009 Conversation With Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos
 |publisher  = US Department of State
 |url        = http://www.mein-parteibuch.org.nyud.net/cablegate/cable/2009/12/09STATE129362.html
 |access-date = 18 December 2010
}}{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In August 2010, a Spanish government source revealed that the U.S. had stopped the annual payments it has made to Spain, as the bilateral agreement in force since the accident had expired the previous year.<ref>{{Cite news |title=US ends payments to Spain for 1966 bomb accident |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iF4oFE_wVfADQqjOL0W54hFNRpzw |agency=AFP |date=23 August 2010 |access-date=10 September 2010 |archive-date=2 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302230046/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iF4oFE_wVfADQqjOL0W54hFNRpzw |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On 19 October 2015, Spain and the United States signed an agreement to further discuss the cleanup and removal of contaminated land. Under a statement of intent signed by Spanish Foreign Minister [[José Manuel García-Margallo]] and U.S. Secretary of State [[John Kerry]], the two countries were to negotiate a binding agreement to further restore and clear up the Palomares site and arrange for the disposal of the contaminated soil at an appropriate site in the U.S.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Spain, US sign new accord to study further cleanup work after 1966 nuclear accident |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/10/19/spain-us-sign-new-accord-on-nuclear-accident-clean-up-plan |agency=AP |publisher=US News |date=19 October 2015 |access-date=19 October 2015 |archive-date=20 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151020141915/http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/10/19/spain-us-sign-new-accord-on-nuclear-accident-clean-up-plan |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Aftermath==
[[File:NAM---Palomares-bombs.jpg|right|thumb|The casings of two [[B28 nuclear bomb|B28 nuclear bombs]] involved in the Palomares incident are on display at the [[National Museum of Nuclear Science & History]] in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]].]]
While serving on the salvage ship {{USS|Hoist|ARS-40|6}} during recovery operations, Navy diver [[Carl Brashear]] had his leg crushed in a deck accident and lost the lower part of his left leg. His story was the inspiration for the 2000 film ''[[Men of Honor]]''.<ref>{{Cite news
 |last=Dorsey 
 |first=Jack 
 |author2=Washington, Jim 
 |date=26 July 2006 
 |title=Pioneering Navy diver Carl Brashear dies in Portsmouth 
 |publisher=The Virginian-Pilot 
 |url=http://hamptonroads.com/node/130671 
 |access-date=19 February 2008 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080205163702/http://hamptonroads.com/node/130671 
 |archive-date=5 February 2008 
 |url-status=live 
}}</ref>

In March 2009, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' magazine]] identified the Palomares accident as one of the world's "worst nuclear disasters".<ref name=bane>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1887705_1862260,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330062023/http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1887705_1862260,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 March 2009 |title=The Worst Nuclear Disasters |magazine=Time |date=2016 |access-date=8 July 2016}}</ref>

Marked long-term occurrences of cancer and other health defects occurred among the surviving USAF personnel directed to the accident site in the days following the crash to clean up the contamination. Most of the afflicted personnel have had difficulty securing any type of compensation from the [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|Department of Veterans Affairs]] because of the secretive nature of the cleanup operation and the Air Force's refusal to acknowledge that adequate safety measures to protect first responders may not have been taken.<ref>{{cite web |first=Dave |last=Philipps |title=Decades Later, Sickness Among Airmen After a Hydrogen Bomb Accident |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/20/us/decades-later-sickness-among-airmen-after-a-hydrogen-bomb-accident.html |work=The New York Times |date=19 June 2016 |access-date=19 June 2016 |archive-date=20 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160620073345/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/20/us/decades-later-sickness-among-airmen-after-a-hydrogen-bomb-accident.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In June 2016, ''[[The New York Times]]'' published an article on the 50th anniversary lingering legacy of the Palomares accident.<ref>{{cite web |last=Minder |first=Raphael |date=20 June 2016 |title=Even Without Detonation, 4 Hydrogen Bombs From '66 Scar Spanish Village |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/21/world/europe/spain-palomares-hydrogen-bombs.html?_r=0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170408004809/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/21/world/europe/spain-palomares-hydrogen-bombs.html?_r=0 |archive-date=8 April 2017 |access-date=29 March 2017 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

In December 2017, one of the airmen involved in the clean-up, Victor Skaar, sued the Department of Veterans Affairs in the [[Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims]]. Skaar was appealing the Department's refusal of medical treatment for [[leukopenia]] that Skaar believes was caused by his exposure at Palomares.<ref>''The Wall Street Journal'', 2–3 January 2021, p. A3</ref> He also petitioned for the Court to [[Class action|certify a class]] of veterans "who were present at the 1966 cleanup of plutonium dust at Palomares, Spain[,] and whose application for service-connected disability comp based on exposure to ionizing radiation [VA] has denied or will deny."{{Quote without source|date=June 2020}} The certification of this class was granted by the Court in December 2019. This is one of the first cases ever granted [[Class action|class-action]] status by the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Philipps |first1=Dave |title=For Many Who Cleaned Up a Nuclear Mess, a Key Ruling Comes Too Late |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/us/palomares-air-force-nuclear.html |access-date=12 February 2020 |newspaper=New York Times |date=11 February 2020 |language=en |archive-date=12 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212154848/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/us/palomares-air-force-nuclear.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The empty casings of two of the bombs involved in this incident are now on display in the [[National Museum of Nuclear Science & History]] in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]].<ref name="moran" />

==In popular culture==
The incident inspired the light-hearted 1966 film ''[[Finders Keepers (1966 film)|Finders Keepers]]'', starring [[Cliff Richard]] and backed by his band [[The Shadows]].{{fact|date=March 2024}}

In November 1966, the plot of an episode of the espionage-themed American television series ''[[I Spy (1965 TV series)|I Spy]]'' entitled "One of Our Bombs is Missing" was devoted to the search for an American Air Force plane carrying an atomic weapon which crashed over a remote Italian village.{{fact|date=March 2024}}

This incident was given the movie treatment in a semi-serious 1967 film, ''[[The Day the Fish Came Out]]'', which covers the story of a plane crash alongside a Greek (not Spanish) Island and the surreptitious attempts by plain-clothes U.S. Navy personnel to find the missing bombs.{{fact|date=March 2024}}

It is also referenced in [[Terence Young (director)|Terence Young]]'s 1969 drama ''[[The Christmas Tree (1969 film)|The Christmas Tree]]'', in which William Holden plays a rich industrialist, who, while traveling in Corsica with his son, learns the boy has been exposed to radiation from the explosion of a plane carrying a nuclear device; on the phone with a senior French official, he references the Palomares incident.{{fact|date=March 2024}}

The story was told in comic format as "Paco della Bomba" by [[Mino Milani]] on the Italian teenage-oriented magazine [[Corriere dei Piccoli|Corriere dei Ragazzi]], on 12 January 1973.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://corrierino-giornalino.blogspot.com/2020/02/paco-della-bomba.html | title=Paco della bomba | date=11 February 2024 }}</ref>

In Episode 12 of the fourth season of ''[[Archer (2009 TV series)|Archer]]'', the main protagonists race against time to recover a lost hydrogen bomb near the Bermuda Triangle, with references being made to how the U.S. Air Force settled for "at least $20&nbsp;million" when they lost a previous hydrogen bomb in the late 1960s.

In 2000, the U.S. film ''[[Men of Honor]]'' focused on the life of the first black American [[Master diver (United States Navy)|master diver]], [[Carl Brashear]], in the U.S. Navy. The film begins and ends with the Palomares bomb recovery by U.S. Navy personnel.<ref>{{cite web |first=Jae |last=Jones |title=Carl Maxie Brashear: First African American U.S. Navy Master Diver |url=https://blackthen.com/carl-maxie-brashear-first-african-american-u-s-navy-master-diver/ |work=Black Then |date=5 January 2016 |access-date=29 March 2017 |archive-date=31 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131223851/http://blackthen.com/carl-maxie-brashear-first-african-american-u-s-navy-master-diver/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In April 2015, the Palomares incident was mentioned in the Danish film ''[[The Idealist]]'', a film about a similar incident, the [[1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash]].

In August 2015, the incident was the subject of a two-minute animated film by Richard Neale that was a finalist in the BBC's WellDoneU competition for amateur filmmakers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Well Done U |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p035cpkz |publisher=BBC |date=16 October 2015 |access-date=8 July 2016 |archive-date=18 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018235951/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p035cpkz |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2021, Spanish cable TV provider [[Movistar+]] produced a four-part documentary series, ''Palomares: Dias de playa y plutonio''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Palomares: Dias de playa y plutonio |url=https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film419466.html |publisher=Movistar+ |access-date=12 April 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424074427/https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film419466.html |archive-date=24 April 2021 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[United States military nuclear incident terminology#Broken Arrow|Broken Arrow]]
* [[List of military nuclear accidents]]
* [[RAF Lakenheath near nuclear disasters|RAF Lakenheath nuclear near-disasters]] – included another US military incident involving a [[Mark 28 nuclear bomb]]

{{Clear}}

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
* {{Cite journal|journal=USAF Nuclear Safety|volume= 52|date=Sep–Oct 1966|url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/reading_room/133.pdf|title=Broken Arrow – Palomares, Spain|publisher=Directorate of Nuclear Safety, [[United States Air Force]]|access-date=23 March 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090327090414/http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/reading_room/133.pdf| archive-date= 27 March 2009 | url-status= dead}}
*{{Cite book | last=Lewis | first=Flora | year=1987 | title=One of Our H-Bombs is Missing | publisher=Bantam | isbn=978-0-553-26483-8 | url=https://archive.org/details/oneofourhbombs00flor }}
*{{Cite book
 | last1=Maggelet | first1=Michael H. |first2=James C. |last2=Oskins
 | title=Broken Arrow- The Declassified History of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Accidents
 | year=2008 | publisher=Bantam | isbn=978-1-4357-0361-2 }}
* {{Cite book|author=Melson, Lewis B. CAPT USN |title=Contact 261 |publisher=United States Naval Institute Proceedings |date=June 1967}}
* {{Cite web|url=http://www.brookings.edu/projects/archive/nucweapons/box7_3.aspx |title=Broken Arrows: The Palomares and Thule Accidents |publisher=[[Brookings Institution]] |year=1998 |access-date=16 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091109110145/http://www.brookings.edu/projects/archive/nucweapons/box7_3.aspx |archive-date=9 November 2009 |url-status=dead }}
* Moran, Barabara M, "The Day we lost the H-Bomb" [http://www.writtenbybarbaramoran.com/books/the-day-we-lost-the-h-bomb/] {{ISBN|978-0891419044}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|1966 Palomares B-52 crash}}

*John Howard, [http://southernspaces.org/2011/palomares-bajo  "Palomares Bajo"], ''Southern Spaces'', 23 August 2011.
*[http://www.n-tv.de/politik/USA-und-Spanien-entseuchen-article236189.html n-tv:] Atomkatastrophe von 1966 – USA und Spanien entseuchen.
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130923012800/http://rubicon-foundation.org/searle/ Oral history]}} of [[Willard Franklyn Searle]] recounting the recovery project.<!-- pdf's are at the bottom of the page -->

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1966}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palomares B-52 Crash, 1966}}
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving United States Air Force aircraft]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving nuclear weapons]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Spain]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1966]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress]]
[[Category:Mid-air collisions]]
[[Category:Mid-air collisions involving military aircraft]]
[[Category:Spain–United States military relations]]
[[Category:Nuclear weapon safety]]
[[Category:Marine salvage operations]]
[[Category:Pollution in Spain]]
[[Category:Francoist Spain]]
[[Category:1966 in Spain]]
[[Category:1966 in the United States]]
[[Category:1966 in military history]]
[[Category:Cold War military history of the United States]]
[[Category:January 1966 events in Europe]]