The Time the U.S. Accidentally Dropped an Atom Bomb on South Carolina

Don’t miss the amateur radio special operating event, March 14, commemorating this piece of U.S. history.

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Amateur radio enthusiasts just love an opportunity to flex their operating skills while also commemorating an interesting historical tidbit. The team at OnAllBands absolutely loves to spotlight these events because they give us a chance to dive into the details and present it to you as it was written.

So, consider us baffled and amazed when we found an event marking the 68th anniversary of when the U.S. accidentally dropped an atomic bomb on a small town in South Carolina.

Let’s backtrack a bit.

The incident happened on March 11, 1958, when a group of four B-47E Stratojets—long-range, six-engine, turbojet-powered strategic bombers—left from Hunter Air Force Base in Savannah, Georgia. They were part of a mission called “Operation Snow Flurry” on their way to a base in England to perform mock bomb drops during the Cold War. These planes were issued an MK-6 nuclear bomb as a deterrence and defense readiness to stem Soviet expansion across the globe.

During their flight over Florence County in South Carolina, one of the pilots of the third B-47E activated a mechanism meant to engage a locking pin in the plane’s bomb harness to improve its security during the flight’s duration.

Wouldn’t want it to accidentally fall from the plane, now, would we?

The problem is that this mechanism didn’t activate. To fix that, Bruce Kulka, the plane’s flight navigator, went back to remedy the situation. To Kulka, a height-challenged man, this required climbing up on top of the bomb to inspect the locking mechanism. To hoist himself up on top of the bomb famous for leveling entire populations, he reached up to grab something attached to it. In this case, it was the emergency release mechanism…to the bomb…. known to level entire populations…

So, like every bomb that just had its emergency release mechanism hit, it fell with Kulka on top of it. The force of the fall with both the bomb and Kulka’s weight was enough to release the plane’s bomb-bay doors, making both enter free-fall.

Kulka, now falling with the bomb, reached out and grabbed on to anything he could before completely exiting the plane. Luckily, he did, saving himself from a 15,000-foot drop with an atomic bomb. Good for him, bad for any one below.

Well…if the bomb were armed, yes it would be very, VERY, bad.

BUT a nuclear weapon like the MK-6 isn’t actually nuclear unless its core is installed into the bomb. In this case, when the bomb fell, that core was in a separate compartment called the “birdcage,” according to the Florence County Museum. So instead, a regular 10-foot-long, 7,000-pound bomb with two tons of explosives fell to the ground.

At around 4:34 p.m., the bomb hit, creating an impact crater of 50 x 70 feet wide and about 30 feet deep. The explosion leveled the surrounding area and the nearby house of Walter Gregg. The Gregg family was at home when it happened. Walter Gregg was outside in his garage, about 50 feet from where the bomb hit. His son, niece, and nephew were playing outside while his wife and daughter were inside the house.

Walter suffered a deep cut on his arm while his wife, Effie, had a section of the house cave in on her. Somehow, she only suffered a cut on her head. Their niece required surgery but would fully recover and go on to live a long life.  

One eyewitness driving nearby reported that the shockwave from the explosion was so strong that it was able to turn his moving vehicle completely around in the road. Others reported hearing the impact and explosion from as far as eight miles away and seeing the dust created by it from the roof of the courthouse in Florence.

The military quickly set up a two-mile perimeter to investigate the bombing. The security was so tight that the Gregg family was forced out and had to sneak in later to save their kitten, which was hiding behind the fridge. Luckily (word of the day in this article), because the bomb wasn’t armed, there weren’t actually any radioactive elements dispersed into the community.

The Gregg family successfully sued the U.S. government over the ordeal. They ended up walking away with $54,000, which, after adjusting for inflation and other measures, amounts to $540,000 today. The money was used to help the family rebuild and get back on their feet, though it was barely enough to do so, according to some reports.

Today, the bomb crater is still there. While there are signs and a kiosk marking where it happened, those passing by wouldn’t be able to tell something like this occurred because of the surrounding tree line and forest growth. However, even though it looks like a circular pond now, the Florence County Museum has fragments of the bomb and other artifacts from this incident on display.

Operating Event

If you’d like to commemorate this bizarre piece of U.S. history, you can! The Florence County Amateur Radio Club (W4ULH) will be on the air (14.285, 7.285) commemorating the 68^th anniversary of the bomb drop on March 14, 0900Z-1500Z.

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