To be clear the failsafes barely did.

Of the steps in this diagram the only one that prevented a nuclear detonation of the first bomb was the arming switch. In the swiss cheese model of accidents, out of 17 layers of protection, 16 failed. The safety mechanism that succeeded in this case had a history of failing because nuts in the plane could fall down and short the switch, arming the bomb unintentionally in flight.

The pilots who bailed out were both arrested by base MPs for 'stealing parachutes' while trying to get to the base and warn about the unsafe condition of the crash site. It probably didn't help that the first pilot to make it to base was black in NC in the 60s.

Um, there were actually several instances of "woops we dropped a bomb".

Until the invention of the ICBM, there were planes carrying nukes in the air 24/7.

It's only thanks to luck that none of them exploded, as the safety systems in place today were not added until the 60s when Kennedy learned how American nukes were being handled and freaked the fuck out about it all. Justifiably so.

The Air Force had been in charge before that and fought relentlessly against adding any safety systems at all.

It wasn't handled perfectly, but the level of incompetence wasn't nearly on the same level. Venting the Xenon and dumping the tritium water wasn't exactly advised without approval but people acted on their own to do them. By far the biggest mistake was the comment from the power company spokesperson that he doesn't need to tell the public everything they do.

*not hidden

• that we know of.