1968 Kadena Air Base Boeing B-52 crash

Aviation incident in Okinawa, Japan September 2019 1968 Kadena Air Base B-52 crash B-52 55-0103 Crash site, Kadena, AFB.jpg 1.25 The crash site of B-52 55-0103at Kadena Air Base Accident 1968 11 19 y Aborted take-off with runway overrun Kadena Air Base, Okinawa 26 22 8.06 N 127 46 55.50 E type:event inline,title 7 2 5 Boeing B-52D in flight 061127-F-1234S-020.jpg A Boeing B-52 Stratofortress similar to the aircraft involved in the accident Boeing B-52D Stratofortress call-sign: "Gold 2" (or "Cream 2"August 2019) United States Air Force (USAF), 4252d Strategic Wing (4252d SW ) 55-0103 Kadena Air Base Operation Arc Light Kadena Air Base On 19 November 1968, a United States Air Force B-52 Stratofortress crashed at Kadena Air Base on the island of Okinawa, Japan.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PFwlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9aAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4625%2C2593530 Reading Eagle Washington UPI Crash sparks furor November 19, 1968 10https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LvdOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qAEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6298%2C19593 Toledo Blade Ohio Reuters Bomber crash stirs protest November 19, 1968 3https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PVwlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9aAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4437%2C2904836 Reading Eagle Washington UPI Okinawa wants B52s removed November 20, 1968 1 Aborted takeoff The United States Air Force (USAF) Strategic Air Command (SAC) B-52D Stratofortress (serial number 55-0103) of the 4252d Strategic Wing had a full bomb load and broke up and caught fire after the aircraft aborted takeoff at Kadena Air Base while it was conducting an Operation Arc Light bombing mission to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. U.S. Plane Crashes in Okinawa Pacific Stars and Stripes Japan 19 November 1968 thumb|200px|right|Tens of thousands of artillery projectiles at Chibana Army Ammunition Depot, September 1969 Resultant fire and explosion The fire resulting from the aborted takeoff ignited the aircraft's fuel and detonated the 30000 lb -2 on bomb load of twenty-four 500 lb -1 on bombs, (twelve under each wing) and forty two 750 lb -1 on bombs inside the bomb bay and caused a blast so powerful that it created an immense crater under the burning aircraft some 30 ft 0 in deep and 60 ft in across.August 2019 The blast blew out the windows in the dispensary at Naha Air Base (now Naha Airport), 23 mi km away and damaged 139 houses. Bomber Explodes at Kadena Pacific Stars and Stripes, Okinawa Bureau Okinawa 20 November 1968 Okinawa Asks B-52 Removal Pacific Stars and Stripes Japan 21 November 1968 Recovery and investigation The aircraft was reduced "to a black spot on the runway" The blast was so large that Air Force spokesman had to announce that there had only been conventional bombs on board. Nothing remained of the aircraft except landing gear and engine assemblies, the tail turret, a few bombs, and some loose explosive that had not detonated.August 2019 Very small fragments of aircraft metal from the enormous blast were "spread like confetti," leaving the crew to use a double entendre to refer to the cleanup work, calling it, "'52 Pickup."August 2019 The Electronic Warfare Officer and the Crew Chief later died from burn injuries after being evacuated from Okinawa.August 2019 Two Okinawan workers were also injured in the blasts. Had the aircraft become airborne, it might have crashed about 1/4 - 1/2 mi m onMarch 2017 north of the runway and directly into the Chibana ammunition storage depot.August 2019 The Chibana depot stored ammunition, bombs, high explosives, and tens of thousands artillery shells and is now known to have held warheads for 19 different atomic and thermonuclear weapons systems in the hardened weapon storage areas. The weapons included W28 warheads used in the MGM-13 Mace cruise missile and W31 warheads used in MGR-1 Honest John and MIM-14 Nike-Hercules (Nike-H) missiles.United States Secretly Deployed Nuclear Bombs in 27 Countries and Territories During Cold War http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/19991020/index.html https://web.archive.org/web/20020811024528/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/19991020/index.html 11 August 2002 2 February 2013 dead The storage depot at Chibana also included 52 igloos in the Project Red Hat chemical weapons storage area and presumably Project 112's biological Agents.Mitchell Jon 2012-12-04 'Were we marines used as guinea pigs on Okinawa?' https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/12/04/issues/were-we-marines-used-as-guinea-pigs-on-okinawa/ 2022-01-24 The Japan Times en-USOkinawa's Henoko was a "storage location" for nuclear weapons Steve Rabson http://www.japanfocus.org/-Steve-Rabson/3884 The Asia-Pacific Journal 14 January 2013 Organizational History- 267th Chemical Company, Letter of Capt. Charles H. Vogeler RIBCD-267CML (March 26, 1966)Dale Van Atta With Honor: Melvin Laird in War, Peace, and Politics https://archive.org/details/withhonormelvinl0000vana registration 29 April 2008 Univ of Wisconsin Press 978-0-299-22683-1 570– The crash led to demands to remove the B-52s from Okinawa and strengthened a push for the reversion from U.S. rule in Okinawa. Okinawans had correctly suspected that the Chibana depot held nuclear weapons.Mitchell Jon 2013-07-27 Exclusive: Red Hat's lethal Okinawa smokescreen https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/07/27/general/exclusive-red-hats-lethal-okinawa-smokescreen/ 2021-01-14 The Japan Times en-US The crash sparked fears that another potential disaster on the island could put the chemical and nuclear stockpile and the surrounding population in jeopardy and increased the urgency of moving them to a less populated and less active storage location.March 2017 See also Aviation accidents in Japan involving U.S. military and government aircraft post-World War II 1959 Okinawa F-100 crash 1964 Machida F-8 crash 1977 Yokohama F-4 crash References Notes 30em collapsed Category:20th-century military history of the United States Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1968 Okinawa Category:Accidents and incidents involving United States Air Force aircraft Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Okinawa Prefecture Category:November 1968 in Japan Category:1968 in Japan