World War II-era plane crash kills seven
At least seven people were killed in the World War II-era plane crash at a Connecticut airport on Wednesday, officials said.
The four-engine, propeller-driven Boeing B-17 bomber was carrying 13 people on board when it struggled to get into air after take-off and crash-landed at Hartford’s Bradley International Airport, bursting into flames.
Public Safety Commissioner James Rovella said the remaining six people suffered severe injuries, and the death toll could rise.
The 75-year-old restored aircraft is owned by the Collings Foundation, an education group that hosts historical re-enactments, authorities said. It was among the 13,000 B-17 bombers produced ahead of and during World War II, and one of the 18 left in the US.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with those who were on that flight, and we will be forever grateful to the heroic efforts of the first responders at Bradley,” Collings Foundation said in a statement.
“The Collings Foundation flight team is fully cooperating with officials to determine the cause of the crash of the B-17 Flying Fortress and will comment further when details become known.”
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said, “These are husbands and wives and brothers and sisters and children and all part of our Connecticut family. And we feel our hearts are broken for you right now.”