Pilot of plane that dropped atomic bomb on Nagasaki dies

BOSTON -- Charles W. Sweeney, a retired Air Force general who piloted the plane that dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki in the final days of World War II, died Thursday. He was 84. Sweeney died at Massachusetts General Hospital, a hospital spokesperson said.

Sweeney was 25 when he piloted the B-29 bomber that attacked Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, three days after the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and six days before Japan surrendered.

About 70,000 people were killed in the explosion of the bomb, dubbed "Fat Man."

Sweeney also wrote a book, "War's End: An Eyewitness Account of America's Last Atomic Mission," to counter what he considered "cockamamie theories" that the bombings were unnecessary. He was outspoken defender of the bombings.

Sweeney also played a role in the bombing at Hiroshima, where he flew an instrument plane that accompanied the Enola Gay during that attack.

His own B-29, the Bock's Car, is not as well-known, although the bombing was harrowing for the crew. The flight had fuel problems from the start, and clouds and smoke were covering the mission's primary target, the city of Kokura.

After making several dangerous passes over the city, Sweeney abandoned the primary target for Nagasaki. Only a break in the clouds allowed the bomb to be dropped, Sweeney said.