Canadian Navy to investigate “lost nuke”

The Canadian Navy is sending a ship to investigate claims that a diver may have discovered the “lost nuke” – a Mark IV bomb that went missing off British Columbia
during a U.S. Air Force B-36 training flight in 1950

Detail map ALASKA (U.S.) PACIFIC OCEAN CANADA Possible route of B-36 to crash site 
BRITISH COLUMBIA Prince Rupert 50km 30 miles Haida Gwaii archipelago

Mark IV bomb: U.S. military claims 5-tonne weapon was filled with leadand TNT, not plutonium – so it was incapable of nuclear explosion

Convair B-36 Peacemaker

Feb 13, 1950: B-36 takes off from Alaska air base with 17 crew for simulated attack on San Francisco

Approximate flight path: Several hours into flight, ice buildup causes plane to lose altitude. Three of six engines catch fire

Bomb jettisoned: Crew instructed to detonate weapon in mid-air so it could not fall into Soviet hands

Crew bails out: Aircraft set on autopilot to crash into Pacific. Five crew members fail to survive

Sep 1953: B-36 wreckage foundon Mount Kologet during unrelated air search. Plane previously thought to have crashed into Pacific

Nov 2016: Diver reports finding possible bomb segment off Pitt Island

3.25m

Sources: Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada, wire agencies