1956 B-47 disappearance

On March 10, 1956, a B-47 Stratojet carrying nuclear weapons material disappeared over the Mediterranean Sea.

Flight
A Boeing B-47 Stratojet, call-sign Inkspot 59, from the 306th Bombardment Wing/369th Bomb Squadron, took off from MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, in the United States for a non-stop flight to Ben Guerir Air Base, Morocco. They completed the first of two planned aerial refuelings without incident.

After descending through solid cloud cover 90 miles southwest of Oran, to begin the second refueling at 14000 ft, B-47E serial number 52-534, ceased communication with the KC-97 tanker aircraft.

The unarmed aircraft was transporting two capsules of nuclear weapons material in carrying cases. A nuclear detonation was not possible.

Aftermath


A French news agency reported that the plane had exploded in the air Northeast of Saïdia, in French Morocco in the same general location of its last known position. After an exhaustive search, no remains of the device could be located. The exact place of its disappearance was never established.

The crew was declared dead:
 * Captain Robert H. Hodgin, 31, aircraft commander
 * Captain Gordon M. Insley, 32, observer
 * 2nd Lt. Ronald L. Kurtz, 22, pilot