ON THIS DAY WITH SHAUN WALLACE

February 5, 1958

THE US military lost a thermonuclear device after two of its planes dramatically collided on a practice run. Colonel Howard Richardson was piloting a B-47 bomber when a fighter jet descended on his plane mid-air.

The impact tore the wing off the F-86 – whose pilot ejected to safety – and left the B-47 badly damaged.

It plunged 18,000ft until Richardson managed to get it under control. Fearing the bomb could detonate upon landing, he asked for permission to jettison it.

This was granted and the bomb – a 7,600lb nuclear weapon – was ditched.

The bomb, which was developed by scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, was said to have an explosive yield of 1.69 megatons.

Yet the crew witnessed no explosion as it hit the sea near Tybee Island, Georgia, and the plane landed safely at the nearest base.

Richardson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his airmanship.

The hunt was then on to recover the bomb, but a search lasting more than two months, which saw the seabed scoured by ships and divers, yielded nothing. It was eventually declared “irretrievably lost”.

There is debate over the danger of the device. It is uncertain whether it is a viable nuclear weapon at all.

An Air Force report in 2001 suggested it is likely buried under 15ft of silt. It poses no risk if left undisturbed and if it remains intact the risk of radioactive leakage is low.

And military chiefs suggest any salvage attempt could cause more harm than good, by triggering an accidental detonation.

In 2004, retired Air Force pilot Derek

Duke thought he had solved the mystery when he detected high levels of radiation off the Savannah Coast. But investigations suggested this was naturally occurring.

The bomb remains lost, and is one of 11 “broken arrrows” – accidents involving nuclear weapons – that the US is aware of.

Question: Which former dictator was indicted on drug and money laundering charges on this day in 1988?

Last week I asked: Born on January 29, 1860, who wrote The Cherry Orchard?

ANTON CHEKHOV.