was unintentionally jettisoned from a B-36 just south of Albuquerque, New Mexico's Kirtland AFB. The device fell through the closed bomb bay doors of the bomber, which was approaching Kirtland at an altitude of . The device's conventional explosives destroyed it on impact, leaving a crater in diameter and deep. Though a chain reaction was impossible because the plutonium pits were stored separately on the plane as a safety measure, the incident spread radioactive contamination and debris over a area. The military thoroughly cleaned up and decontaminated the site although a few fragments of the bomb - some still radioactive - are occasionally found in the area. A marker was placed on the site in 1996 by the Center for Land Use Interpretation, however it was subsequently removed. Survivors Five MK 17/24 casings are on display to the public: National Museum of Nuclear Science & History located at Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Strategic Air Command Memorial at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base at Carswell Field in Fort Worth, Texas. The National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio has a Mk 17/24 casing on display in its Cold War Hangar. The Strategic Air and Space Museum in Ashland, Nebraska. Castle Air Museum, Atwater, Ca See also List of nuclear weapons List of military nuclear accidents Castle Bravo Teller-Ulam design References Citations Bibliography . . . Cold War aerial bombs of the United States Nuclear bombs of the United States Military equipment introduced in the 1950s