
Fairfax, California B-17 Crash in 1946 - benbreen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairfax,_California_B-17_Crash
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jessriedel
There have been many military crashes with nuclear weapon material on board,
some resulting in its dispersal.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accid...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents)

I'm not sure why this alleged one is particularly noteworthy.

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mcphage
Did something happen that made this currently relevant, or was it referenced
in another source recently? It's interesting enough, but I can't tell if
there's some subtext that I'm missing.

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ngcazz
Perhaps this:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14085454](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14085454)

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cmurf
Command and Control (the book, I haven't seen the documentary) has a number of
stories way way way scarier than this one.

Imagine an ICBM, with warhead, in a missile silo in Arkansas, massively and
rapidly leaking oxidizer, the pressure for which in part provides foundation
for the weight of the rest of the rocket above that tank; if it gets to a
certain low pressure point, it crushes under the weight above, and then fuel
and oxidizer combine, ignite, and now you've got a warhead involved in the
ensuing conflagration.

I really think we've been incredibly lucky with nuclear weapons, and
comparatively unlucky with nuclear power plants. Not that I have a problem
with that.

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maxxxxx
I remember when I was kid a convoy with a Pershing missile had an accident
close to where I lived and there was a big fire. Nothing happened but it was
pretty scary.

Even found an article:
[http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-14354045.html](http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-14354045.html)

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ryandamm
There's a mountain bike trail in Camp Tamarancho named "B-17" after the crash.
Though there is supposedly extant remains of a _different_ crash on the slopes
of Mt. Tam, I haven't personally seen them.

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robterrell
The other crash is on the Mill Valley side, off the Vic Haun trail:

[http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mount-tamalpais-
aircraft-...](http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mount-tamalpais-aircraft-
crash-site)

From downtown Mill Valley, drive up Summit until it ends. That's the start of
the Temelpa trail. You can take that trail all the way up to east peak summit
(some amazing views along the way, highly recommended) but if you divert at
Sitting Bull rock onto the Vic Haun trail, the trail to the crash site is a
bit before the creek.

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macintux
Related:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash)

(edit: or at least similar)

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valuearb
Pretty sure a B-17 could not carry nuclear weapons of that era. It was,
however, used to do atmospheric testing for operation cross-roads.

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butterfi
I live right at whites hill and have never heard this story, thanks for
sharing!

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slyrus
A little too close to home!

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floatingatoll
Mods, can we append (1946) to this?

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ryandamm
Haha yeah -- I live in Fairfax, and I did a brief double take (though B-17
implies it was a while ago).

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mysterydip
It does, but there's also still some preserved/restored flying for airshows or
whatnot. I thought initially this was a crash of one of those.

