Sandia Base personnel were dispatched to assist in two major incidents involving the loss and recovery of nuclear weapons in the 1960s . In 1966 , a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bomber and a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker air refueling plane collided in mid-air over the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain . This event is referred to as the Palomares incident . Three of four missing nuclear weapons were found on land near the fishing village of Palomares in Spain . The fourth was found in the sea after a lengthy search . The second incident occurred in 1968 when a B-52 bomber crashed near Thule , Greenland . Three weapons were recovered ; a fourth is believed to remain in the ocean
Palomares incident
1966 Palomares B-52 crash
Sandia Base