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OTD in 1950, a B-29 bomber ferrying an unarmed Mark-4 atomic bomb (no plutonium capsule) to Guam for potential use in the Korean War crashed and burned attempting an emergency landing 5 min. after takeoff from Fairfield-Suisun AFB, CA, killing 12 crew/passengers and injuring 8. 
~20 min. after the crash, the Mark-4's 5,000 lbs. of high explosives detonated, killing 7, injuring 173, destroying all the base's fire trucks, and severely damaging a trailer park. USAF claimed the explosion—which was heard 30 miles away—was caused by conventional 500-lb. bombs.
Among those killed in the crash was highly-decorated Brigadier General Robert F. Travis, who was sitting in the cockpit that night in command pilot capacity and serving as a high-level escort for the aircraft's secret cargo. Fairfield-Suisun AFB was renamed in his honor in 1951.
This Aug. 7, 1950, New York Times report on the accident repeats the Air Force's lie the B-29 was on a training mission and makes no mention it carried an A-bomb with a variable yield of 1-31 kilotons, one of nine Pres. Truman had ordered deployed to Guam. timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1…
