After descending through solid cloud cover 90 miles southwest of Oran, to begin the second refueling at 14,000 feet (4,300 m), B-47E serial number52-534,[1] ceased communication with the KC-97 tanker aircraft.[3]
The unarmed aircraft was transporting two capsules of nuclear weapons material in carrying cases. A nuclear detonation was not possible.[4]
A French news agency reported that the plane had exploded in the air Northeast of Saïdia, in French Morocco in the same general location of its last known position. After an exhaustive search, no remains of the device could be located. The exact place of its disappearance was never established.[3][5]
