On March 23, 1966, in an accident that is now known as the Palomares incident, a B-52 bomber carrying four hydrogen bombs collided with a refueling tanker in Spain, and one of its nuclear weapons dropped into the sea. As a U.S. Navy salvage team worked to recover the bomb, the towing line broke, sending a heavy steel pipe shooting toward the team — and in an incredible act of heroism, diver Carl Brashear threw himself in front of his men, taking the pipe in the leg.⁠ Brashear not only survived,