H-bombs unlikely

 

I was reading Bob Hoover's article "Hudson River Plane Crash Recalls 1956 Mon Mystery" (Jan. 20), which tells of a privately printed book by Robert H. Johns that speculated that two H-bombs were on the plane that splashed into the Mon and that they were "spirited" away.

I seriously doubt that the B-25 could carry two H-bombs, for the thermonuclear weapons available in 1956 weighed more than 7,000 pounds, exceeding the bomb load maximum of the B-25 by a thousand pounds in one bomb alone.

It is a possibility that the plane could have had fission weapons loaded, but by 1956, the B-25 was relegated to training, reconnaissance and support roles, not as a tactical bomber.

NEIL ZAMPELLA
Baldwin Borough