5.San Antonio, Texas,1963
5.德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥，1963
This is a unique case, even for a broken arrow, and it goes to show that even obsolete nuclear weapons need to be handled with care as they are still dangerous.
这个案例甚至是在事故当中，也是独一无二的。它表明即使是报废的核武器，也要小心处理，因为它们仍然十分危险。
The incident took place at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. Specifically, it occurred at the Medina Base, an annex formerly used as a National Stockpile Site (NSS). Back in the '60s, it was also used to decommission and disassemble old nuclear weapons. On November 13, 1963, the annex experienced a massive chemical explosion when 56,000 kilograms (123,000 lb) of non-nuclear explosives detonated. Shockingly, there were no casualties, and only three workers received minor injuries. The nuclear components were stored in a different part of the building, so radioactive contamination was minimal. The incident became public immediately but didn't cause a big stir because it was overshadowed when, just a few days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.
事故发生在圣安东尼奥拉克兰空军基地。具体位置是麦地那基地——这是一块附属地，曾被用作国家储备基地。60年代，它还是老旧核武器退役、被拆卸的地方。1963年11月13日，这个地方经历了一次巨大的化学爆炸——56000公斤（123000磅）非核炸药爆炸了。让人们相当惊讶的是，没有任何人员伤亡，只有3位工人受轻伤。因为核部件存放在建筑的另一部分，所以放射污染很低。事故立即被公开，但是没有造成严重后果，因为就在几天后，这件事就被另一件大事遮蔽了——肯尼迪总统在达拉斯遇刺身亡。
4.Fairfield, California,1950
4.加利福尼亚州费尔菲尔德，1950
This is one of the most serious broken arrows in terms of loss of life. By the end, 19 people were dead, and almost 180 were injured. Among the victims was Brigadier General Robert F. Travis.
这是造成重大人员伤亡的严重事故。最终有19人遇难，近180人受伤。受害人中有罗伯特·特拉弗斯准将。
The incident took place at the Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base in California. The Korean War was raging, and the military was transporting a load of Mark IV nuclear bombs to Guam. Ten B-29 bombers were loaded with one nuclear weapon each. Shortly after takeoff, one of the planes developed engine trouble. General Travis, aboard that plane, ordered it back to the base, but another error prevented the landing gear from deploying. The pilot had to crash-land the B-29 in a remote area of the base. Of the 20 people aboard the plane, 12 died on impact, including Travis. Ground personnel tried to put out the fire before the bomb would explode, but the Mark IV detonated, and the 2,300 kilograms (5,000 lb) of conventional explosives caused a massive blast that killed seven more people. The military tried to cover up the incident by claiming that the plane was loaded with only conventional explosives. The accident report made no mention of nuclear weapons aboard the bomber. The base was soon renamed "Travis Air Force Base" in honor of the general.
事故发生在加利福尼亚州费尔菲尔德-塞速空军基地。朝鲜战争一触即发，军方要将大量马克4核弹运往关岛。10架B-29轰炸机各载一枚核武器。起飞后不久，其中一架飞机出现了引擎故障。特拉弗斯将军——就在这架飞机上——命令飞机返回基地，但是另一个故障导致起落架无法打开。飞行员不得不在基地边缘强行着陆。机上共有20人，其中12人遇难，包括特拉维斯。地面人员试图在炸弹爆炸前灭火，但是马克4爆炸了，2300公斤（5000磅）常规炸药制造的巨大热浪还夺走了另外7人的生命。军方试图掩盖这个意外，声称飞机上只有常规炸药。对事故的报道没有提及轰炸机上面的核武器。基地为了纪念这位将军，不久改称"塔维斯空军基地"。
3.西班牙帕洛马雷斯，1966
The incident that happened in Palomares, Spain on January 17, 1966 was a bad one, even for a broken arrow. For starters, it involved the destruction of two different aircraft and the deaths of seven of the people aboard them. Moreover, it involved four hydrogen bombs, two of which exploded. Lastly, it all took place in a foreign land, hurting the United States politically.
1966年1月17日发生在西班牙帕洛马雷斯的事故结果很糟糕，属于核事故里相当严重的一类。首先，事故摧毁了两架飞机，机上7人遇难。此外还涉及4枚氢弹，其中两枚爆炸。最后，事故发生在国外，伤及美国的政治影响力。
A B-52G bomber was flying over the Mediterranean Sea when it was approached by a tanker for a standard mid-air refueling. The two planes collided, and both were completely destroyed. The bomber had been carrying four MK28 hydrogen bombs. One landed in a riverbed and was fine—it didn't leak; it didn't explode. Another fell in the sea and was recovered a few months later. Two bombs landed near the Spanish village of Palomares and exploded on impact. They contaminated a 2.5-square-kilometer (1 mi2) area, although nobody was killed in the blasts.A few months later, the US government was sued by Spanish fisherman Francisco Simo Ortis, who had helped find the bomb that fell in the sea. According to maritime law, he was entitled to the salvage reward, which was 1 percent of the haul's total value. Luckily for him, the value of that salvage happened to be $2 billion, so he asked for $20 million. He settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.
一架B-52轰炸机在飞越地中海时，另一架加油机逐渐靠近准备进行空中加油。两架飞机相撞，双双损毁。轰炸机载有4枚MK28氢弹。一枚坠入河底，相安无事——没有泄露，没有爆炸。另一枚坠入大海，几个月之后被发现。还有两枚在西班牙帕洛马雷斯村庄附近坠落，瞬间爆炸。导致2.5平方公里（1平方英里）区域被污染，尽管无人在爆炸中丧生。几个月之后，美国政府遭到西班牙渔民弗朗西斯科·西蒙·奥迪斯起诉，他为寻找坠入大海的核弹贡献了力量。根据海商法，他会得到一笔救援奖金，价值是打捞物的1%。幸运的是，被救援的价值刚好是20亿美元，所以他要求得到2000万美元。他在法庭外接受了一笔不公开的奖金协议。
2.格陵兰岛，1968
This Greenland incident, commonly referred to as the Thule accident, took place just two years after Palomares and has a lot of similarities with the previous broken arrow. It involved four different hydrogen bombs, and it took place in a foreign land, causing diplomatic problems for the United States.
格陵兰岛事件，一般称为图勒事故，发生在帕洛马雷斯事故之后两年，它们有很多相似之处。格陵兰事件也涉及4枚氢弹，发生在国外，给美国带来了外交问题。
On January 21, 1968, a B-52 bomber carrying four hydrogen bombs was flying over Baffin Bay in Greenland when the cabin caught fire. Originally, the plan was to make an emergency landing at Thule Air Base, but the fire was too severe, and the plane didn't make it there. Six of the seven crew members made it out alive, while the bomber crashed into the sea ice.One of the bombs detonated, spreading radioactive contamination over a 300-meter (1,000 ft) area. All of the contaminated snow and ice—roughly 7,000 cubic meters (250,000 ft3)—was removed and disposed of by the United States. Another bomb simply burned without exploding, and two others fell into the icy waters. One of those was eventually recovered about 10 years later, but the other one is still somewhere at the bottom of Baffin Bay. Oddly enough, the Danish government got into more trouble than the American one. Greenland is a territory administered by Denmark, and the country had implemented a nuclear-free policy in 1957. In what would eventually get dubbed "Thulegate," it came out that the Danish government was secretly allowing the stockpiling of nuclear weapons on its soil during peacetime.
1968年1月21日，一架携带4枚氢弹的B-52轰炸机飞越格陵兰岛巴芬湾时，机舱着火。最初，飞机打算在图勒空军基地紧急着陆，但因为火势严重，飞机无法飞抵预定地点。7名机组人员中有6人生还，而轰炸机冲入冰海。其中一枚炸弹爆炸，其辐射污染了方圆300米（1000英尺）的区域。所有被污染的雪和冰——约7000立方米（250000立方英尺）——被美国清理掉。另一枚炸弹没有爆炸就燃烧了，其他两枚坠入结冰的水域。其中一枚在大约10年之后最终被找到，但最后一枚仍在巴芬湾海底某处。更为古怪的是，丹麦政府面对的问题比美国政府更多。格陵兰岛是由丹麦管辖的领土，丹麦在1957年通过了一项核自由政策。这后来被戏称为"图勒门"，从中可以看出丹麦政府暗中允许和平时期在其领土上储存核武器。
1.Albuquerque, New Mexico,1957
1.新墨西哥州阿尔伯克基，1957
We've finally arrived at the most famous broken arrow in US history, one mostly made famous by the government covering it up for almost 30 years.
这是美国历史上最著名的核事故，主要因为美国政府遮掩了近30年。
On May 22, 1957, a B-36 bomber was transporting a giant Mark 17 hydrogen bomb from Texas to the Kirtland Air Force Base near Albuquerque, New Mexico. This was one of the biggest nuclear bombs ever made, 8 meters (25 ft) in length and with an explosive yield of 10 megatons. Everything was going fine until the plane was about 6 kilometers (4 mi) from the base. Then, for reasons that remain unknown, the bomb's safety harness failed. The giant hydrogen bomb fell through the bay doors of the bomber and plummeted 500 meters (1,700 ft) to the ground.Two pieces of good news came after this. First, the plutonium pits hadn't been installed in the bomb during transportation, so there was no chance of a nuclear explosion. Second, the bomb landed in a mostly empty field. It produced a giant explosion, left a 3.5-meter (12 ft) deep crater, and spread radioactive contaminants over a 1.5-kilometer (1 mi) area. But the damage was minimal, and there was only one casualty—an unfortunate cow that was grazing in the vicinity of the explosion. For 29 years, the government kept the accident at Kirtland a secret. This practically ensured that, when it was eventually revealed, everyone treated it like a huge deal, even though much worse broken arrows had happened since.
1957年5月22日，一架B-36轰炸机从德克萨斯州运送一枚巨大的马克17氢弹到新墨西哥阿尔伯克基附近的科特兰空军基地。这颗炸弹是迄今为止最大的核弹之一，长8米（25英尺），爆炸力达1000万吨级。直到飞机飞到距离基地6千米（4英里）左右之前，一切都很正常。随即——原因至今不明，炸弹的保险带松开了。巨大的氢弹穿过飞机舱门，跌入地下500米（1700英尺）。最后传来两个好消息。第一，核弹在运输过程中没有装入钚核，所以不存在核爆炸。第二，炸弹落在极其荒凉的地方。结果发生了剧烈爆炸，留下3.5米（12英尺）深的大坑，1.5千米（1英里）之外都有辐射污染。但是这样的危害已经是最小的了，只有一个受害者——一头不幸的牛，它在爆炸点附近吃草。政府为科特兰发生的事保密29年。这使得最终大家知道这件事的时候，都把它当作一件大案，尽管之后发生了更糟糕的核事故。
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