On November 20, 1955, for the first time in the history of aviation and nuclear testing, an airplane with a thermonuclear bomb on board made an emergency landing. Posting in CHAT: RussiaThe Soviet hydrogen bomb RDS-37 was prepared by KB-11 employees and transferred for suspension to the aircraft at 6:45 a.m. on November 20, 1955. The takeoff was made by the crew of F.P. Golovashko at 9:30 a.m. from the Zhana-Semey airfield. The plane reached a predetermined altitude of 12,000 meters, but by the time it made a dry approach to the target, contrary to the forecasts of the range's meteorological service and specialists from the country's chief meteorologist E.K. Fedorov, the weather had deteriorated and the range was covered with clouds. At the request of the crew, the carrier aircraft was allowed to make a dry approach to the target using the aircraft's radar installation. During a dry approach, the crew reported a failure of the radar sight and the inability to carry out the task of accurately dropping the product. For the first time in the practice of nuclear testing, the question arose of the forced landing of an aircraft with a thermonuclear experimental bomb of enormous explosive power. When the crew asked questions about their actions from the Central Command Post, the answer was: “Wait.” Due to the current situation, calm was lost at the Center for Communications, and a series of advice, questions and proposals followed. A proposal arose to drop a bomb in the mountains far from populated areas in a “non-explosion” manner - without using the automatic triggering of a nuclear explosion. This option was excluded for many reasons. Taking into account the results of testing the RDS-6s product together with the carrier aircraft, the possibility and admissibility of landing the carrier aircraft with the product was considered. There was less and less fuel left on the plane, and a decision had to be made immediately. The plane with the bomb was given permission to land only after Ya. B. Zeldovich and A. D. Sakharov gave a written opinion on the safety of landing the plane with the charge, and Air Force specialists analyzed all emergency scenarios when landing the plane. The pilots descended to a circle altitude of 400 meters, passed over the runway and landed on the second approach. We lowered the landing gear and began to descend. The plane was leveled at the beginning of the runway and landed very smoothly, touching the concrete strip simultaneously with both landing gear. The landing was so smooth and good that it was simply impossible to determine whether the plane had landed or was still in flight. The crew commander, Major F.P. Golovashko, put all his skill into piloting technique in order to land the plane so well. After 2.5 hours of flight at the Zhana-Semey airfield near the city of Semipalatinsk, in conditions of poor visibility due to a sandstorm, the crew commander, Major F. Golovashko, with minimal fuel remaining, “blindly” landed the plane with a hydrogen bomb. The bomb was removed from the aircraft and handed over to the KB-11 assembly team for inspection and re-preparation for testing. The plane was preparing for its next flight. After analyzing what happened, it was decided to conduct flight tests of the RDS-37 product every other day - November 22, 1955. Original source Source link
