On May 27, 1957 a Mark 17 was unintentionally jettisoned from a Convair B-36 Peacemaker just south of Albuquerque, New Mexico's Kirtland AFB. The device fell through the closed bomb bay doors of the bomber, which was approaching Kirtland at an altitude of 520 metres (1,700 ft).

The MK-17 was the first operational USAF thermonuclear "H-Bomb" (The "H" refers to the hydrogen which was fused under intense heat conditions to produce unprecedented energy yields). The MK-17 was carried by B-36s and was in service from 1954 until 1957.

Size wise, the Mk 17 was the largest nuclear weapon ever built by the United States. In combat a gigantic 64-foot diameter ribbon parachute was designed to slow down or retard the big bomb giving...

In May of 1957 a thermonuclear bomb fell out of an airplane and landed on Mesa del Sol, one mile southeast of the Albuquerque Airport. The hydrogen bomb, a Mark 17 model, was one of the largest and most powerful weapons ever made by the United States.

May 22, 2020 · The Mk 17 hydrogen bomb, the largest in the U.S. arsenal, is gone. It has accidentally fallen out of the aircraft, tearing the bomb bay doors open, and disappearing into space.

Sep 1, 2010 · Three of the more unusual—and in the end impractical—of these weapons were the enormous Mk 17 hydrogen bomb, the Navy’s drone anti-submarine helicopter equipped with a nuclear depth charge, and the “Davy Crockett” atomic mortar-recoilless rifle.

The Mark 17 was the largest nuclear bomb deployed by the United States. It was one of the first thermonuclear weapons stockpiled. When the bomb shape was test-dropped, the plane would soar upwards a couple hundred feet. The pilots said it was as if the bomb had released the plane.

Mk 17-2 and Mk 44: These depth bombs are made with round noses welded to a cylindrical steel tube. There is a strengthening disc around the nose and a steel strip along suspension lug to reinforce the body. The transverse fuze pocket is 11.9 in. aft of the nose.

The MK-17 was the first operational USAF thermonuclear “H-Bomb” (The “H” refers to the hydrogen which was fused under intense heat conditions to produce unprecedented energy yields): yielding 15 to 20 megatons.