Briefing for the first atomic bombing mission. Colonel Paul Tibbets (standing, right) and Captain William Parsons briefing the aircrews involved in dropping the first atomic bomb, 6 August 1945. Tibbets was the pilot of the B-29 bomber Enola Gay which dropped the 'Little Boy' atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The bomb detonated at 8.16 am local time at an altitude of 565 metres. The explosive energy was equivalent to 12.5 kilotons (12,500 tons) of TNT. Over 155,000 people died as a result; this figure includes radiation-related deaths within one year.