1956 USAF Boeing B-47 disappearance

The 1956 B-47 disappearance was a Cold War aviation incident in which a United States Air Force Boeing B-47 Stratojet vanished over the Mediterranean Sea on 10 March 1956 while en route from MacDill Air Force Base in Florida to Ben Guerir Air Base in Morocco. The aircraft, carrying three crew members, failed to make contact with a KC-97 tanker during a scheduled aerial refuelling. No wreckage or remains were recovered, and the crew were later declared dead.

At the time of the disappearance, the bomber was transporting two sealed capsules containing nuclear pits, but was not carrying any complete nuclear weapons, making a nuclear detonation impossible. The accident is listed in U.S. Department of Defense summaries as a “Broken Arrow”.

Flight

The B-47E, serial number 52-534 and call sign Inkspot 59, assigned to the 369th Bomb Squadron of the 306th Bombardment Wing was on a scheduled non-stop deployment flight from MacDill Air Force Base to Ben Guerir Air Base as part of routine Strategic Air Command bomber rotations to North Africa.

The B-47 successfully completed the first of two scheduled aerial refueling over the Mediterranean. For the second refueling, the bomber descended through thick cloud to 14000 ft approximately 90 mi southwest of Oran. Visibility was poor. Upon entering the cloud layer, all radio contact with the accompanying KC-97 tanker abruptly ceased and the aircraft failed to arrive at the refueling point. No further signals were received, and the bomber was declared missing.

The aircraft was transporting two sealed nuclear pits inside their protective containers. These components cannot produce a nuclear yield unless integrated into a complete weapon system, requiring high explosives, not present on the flight.