Seven dead in Connecticut vintage B-17 WWII bomber crash

[Asid]

Seven dead in Connecticut vintage B-17 WWII bomber crash
2 October 2019

From the BBC:



A rare World War Two-era plane has crashed at an airport in the US state of Connecticut, killing seven people.

Thirteen people were on board the vintage Boeing B-17 - dubbed the Flying Fortress - when it went down and burst into flames minutes after take-off outside Hartford on Wednesday.

The aircraft was civilian-registered and was not being flown by the US military, aviation officials say.

Experts say only about 10 B-17 planes are still being flown around the US.

State Police Commissioner James Rovella told reporters at a news conference, adding: "Victims are very difficult to identify, we don't want to make a mistake."

The B-17 flight departed at 09:45 local time (14:45GMT). Five minutes later it reported having difficulties. The crash occurred near the Bradley International Airport at 09:54.

"We observed that the aircraft was not gaining altitude," said Connecticut Airport Authority Executive Director Kevin Dillon.


Read on: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-49909735

[Asid]

My heart goes out to all those affected by this tragedy.

[Skoop]

The airport near my home houses the commemorative airforce museum and I'm sure that same b-17 has come through on the annual airshow.  Keeping those old birds flying has got to be a demanding task.  One year we saw this old TBD Devastator go up for it's run in the airshow, when we did a walk through after, my son was amazed how much oil was belching out of the engine after.  They must go through a 55 gallon drum every time that thing goes up.