Last week I ran some photos of a Petawawa-based Chinook helicopter dropping off and picking up members of 12 Régiment blindé du Canada. The soldiers were conducting new searches in the vicinity of Haines Junction, Yukon for a U.S. aircraft that crashed in 1950. The search was part of activities for Operation Nanook 2016.
I received some emails and twitter traffic from Defence Watch readers who speculated that the search was actually for a lost U.S. nuclear weapon.On February 13, 1950, a U.S. Air Force B-36 experienced engine problems on a training mission, flying from Alaska and along Canada’s west coast. The aircraft was carrying a Mark IV nuclear bomb (without the radioactive material). The engines caught fire and the crew had to bail. The plane’s crash site was found several years later on a mountain in British Columbia and the U.S. military sent a recovery team to collect sensitive material and destroy what remained of the B-36.What happened to the bomb continues to be debated (was it jettisoned or did it go down with the plane?). By the way, author Dirk Septer has a new updated version of his book, Lost Nuke: The Last Flight of Bomber 075, which is one of several that outlines this incident.
So were the Canadian troops looking for the lost nuke?
No, says Major Josée Bilodeau, senior public affairs officer for Joint Task Force North Headquarters. “OP NANOOK 16 activities in the vicinity of Haines Junction included a ground and air search and rescue component this year,” she explained to Defence Watch. “The search (was) for a U.S. military Douglas C-54D Skymaster with 44 U.S. military and civilian individuals on board that went missing on January 26, 1950 somewhere in that area.”
As the search and rescue component of OP NANOOK 16 was already planned, the focus area of the SAR training was co-ordinated with various civilian and other government agencies with the hopes that perhaps the wreckage of this aircraft might be located, she added.
Unfortunately, the crash site was not found.
I received some emails and twitter traffic from Defence Watch readers who speculated that the search was actually for a lost U.S. nuclear weapon.On February 13, 1950, a U.S. Air Force B-36 experienced engine problems on a training mission, flying from Alaska and along Canada’s west coast. The aircraft was carrying a Mark IV nuclear bomb (without the radioactive material). The engines caught fire and the crew had to bail. The plane’s crash site was found several years later on a mountain in British Columbia and the U.S. military sent a recovery team to collect sensitive material and destroy what remained of the B-36.What happened to the bomb continues to be debated (was it jettisoned or did it go down with the plane?). By the way, author Dirk Septer has a new updated version of his book, Lost Nuke: The Last Flight of Bomber 075, which is one of several that outlines this incident.
So were the Canadian troops looking for the lost nuke?
No, says Major Josée Bilodeau, senior public affairs officer for Joint Task Force North Headquarters. “OP NANOOK 16 activities in the vicinity of Haines Junction included a ground and air search and rescue component this year,” she explained to Defence Watch. “The search (was) for a U.S. military Douglas C-54D Skymaster with 44 U.S. military and civilian individuals on board that went missing on January 26, 1950 somewhere in that area.”
As the search and rescue component of OP NANOOK 16 was already planned, the focus area of the SAR training was co-ordinated with various civilian and other government agencies with the hopes that perhaps the wreckage of this aircraft might be located, she added.
Unfortunately, the crash site was not found.
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