Fatalities after WWII bomber crashes in US
October 2, 2019
A WWII-era bomber crashed in the US state of Connecticut on Wednesday, killing at least seven people. Public Safety Commissioner James Rovella told a news conference it was too early to say how many had died.
The B-17 bomber, better known as the Flying Fortress, crashed shortly after take off at Bradley International Airport. The pilot was attempting to land when the plane hit a maintenance shed and burst into flames.
The plane was carrying 13 people, including the pilot. One person on the ground was injured.
Some people suffered severe burns, authorities said. Health authorities said five people who were on board the plane had been transported to Hartford Hospital.
Officials said the plane had reported a problem and was not gaining altitude. "We could see they could not gain altitude. Upon touchdown they obviously lost control, struck our de-icing facility here as well as a maintenance facility," James Rovella, a Connecticut state disaster emergency official, told reporters.
The US aviation authority, the FAA, declared that the airport was temporarily closed for arrivals and departures due to the crash.
The aircraft belonged to the Collings Foundation, which is concerned with the history of aviation and operates several historic aircraft. It was also involved in a crash in 1987 at an air show near Pittsburgh, when it overshot the runway and injured three people.
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was one of the main bombers used against Germany in WWII, dropping almost half of all American bombs dropped in Nazi Germany. The long-range bomber was notoriously tough and was also used in the Pacific theater.
The US Air Force stopped flying the aircraft in 1959.
There are very few such aircraft that are still airworthy.
aw/msh (AP, dpa)
Every day, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.