Seven people have died after the crash of a the vintage Boeing B-17 aircraft near the Bradley International Airport in Connecticut.
The civilian-registered Boeing B-17 aircraft had 13 passengers during the crash at 9:54 a.m. at the Connecticut airport. State Police Commissioner James Rovella stated: "There were fatalities. Victims are very difficult to identify, we don't want to make a mistake."
The aircraft departed at 9:45 a.m. but reported having trouble just five minutes later before it crashed at 9:54 a.m. Connecticut Airport Authority Executive Director Kevin Dillon said: "We observed that the aircraft was not gaining altitude."
Antonio Arreguin, a witness to the crash, claimed that he felt the heat from the fire 250 yards from the crash site. He narrated: "In front of me, I see this big ball of orange fire, and I knew something happened. The ball of fire was very big."
Another witness, Angela Fletcher, who lives about a half-mile from the airport, said:
"It sounded like an 18-wheeler coming down the street and then it got louder. Like so loud, it was vibrating things in the house. I looked out the window, and I saw this giant old plane come over the house that was very close, like oddly close to the house."
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported that the B-17 crashed at the end of a runway during an attempted landing. According to the Collings Foundation, a non-profit that owned the plane, the aircraft was scheduled to participate in the "Wings of Freedom Tour" event at the airport from Monday to Thursday this week.
Jeremy Kinney, the curator for World War Two aviation at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, pointed out that there are only about 10 air-worthy B-17 plans that exist, with another 40 existing airplanes placed in museums or private collections.
