World War II-era bomber that crashed, killing 7, had regularly stopped in Wheeling

A World War-II era B-17 bomber that has toured the U.S. crashed and burned after an aborted takeoff Wednesday in Connecticut, killing seven of the 13 people aboard.

The historic plane frequently stopped at Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling, most recently at the end of July, as part of the annual Wings of Freedom tour run by the Collings Foundation.

Ten passengers and three crew members were on board Wednesday as the four-engine, propeller-driven plane struggled to get into the air and slammed into a maintenance shed at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, when the pilots circled back for a landing, officials and witnesses said.

Connecticut Public Safety Commissioner James Rovella said hours after the crash that some of those on board were burned, and “the victims are very difficult to identify.”

Some of the survivors of the crash were critically injured, authorities said. One person on the ground was also hurt in the crash and a firefighter involved in the response suffered a minor injury. No children were on the plane.

The death toll of seven could rise, Rovella said. He said some lives were likely saved by the efforts of people including a person who raced to help the victims and people on the plane who helped others escape the fire by opening a hatch, Rovella said.

“You're going to hear about some heroic efforts from some of the individuals that were in and around that plane,” he said.

The retired, civilian-registered B-17 Flying Fortress named Nine-O-Nine was one of several vintage military aircraft put on tour by the Collings Foundation, an educational group based in Massachusetts.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with those who were on that flight and we be will forever grateful to the heroic efforts of the first responders at Bradley,” the foundation said in a Facebook post that drew hundreds of comments from people who had toured or flown in the plane at airports around the U.S.

Chicago Executive Airport has been part of the annual Wings of Freedom tour since the early 2000s. Visitors have been able to see the B-17 as part of a living history display in honor of World War II veterans.

“Our thoughts and prayers extend to those lost in the crash and their families,” Chicago Executive officials said in a social media posting.

“Flew on Nine-O-Nine while at Chicago Executive. Sad news,” one man wrote in response.

Similar to other places on the tour, patrons at Chicago Executive could pay $450 for a 30-minute flight on the B-17 and the other rare aircraft. The tour also has offered suburban visitors a chance to be up close with the Consolidated B-24 Liberator “Witchcraft,” B-25 Mitchell “Tondelayo” bombers and P-51 Mustang “Toulouse Nuts” fighter.

The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team to Connecticut to investigate the cause of the crash.

“Right now my heart really goes out to the families who are waiting,” Gov. Ned Lamont said as authorities worked to identify victims. “And we are going to give them the best information we can as soon as we can in an honest way.”

The plane was a few minutes into the flight when the pilots reported a problem and said it was not gaining altitude, officials said. It lost control upon touching down and struck a shed.

Flight records from FlightAware shows the plane had traveled about 8 miles and reached an altitude of 800 feet.

The airport, New England's second-busiest, was closed afterward but reopened a single runway about 3½ hours later.

Brian Hamer, of Norton, Massachusetts, said he was less than a mile away when he saw a B-17, “which you don't normally see,” fly directly overhead, apparently trying without success to gain altitude.

One of the engines began to sputter, and smoke came out the back, Hamer said. The plane made a wide turn and headed back toward the airport, he said.

“Then we heard all the rumbling and the thunder, and all the smoke comes up, and we kind of figured it wasn't good,” Hamer said.

Antonio Arreguin, who had parked at a construction site near the airport, said he did not see the plane but heard the explosion and could feel the heat from “this big ball of orange fire” about 250 yards away.

The same plane also crashed in 1987 at an air show near Pittsburgh, injuring several people, the Collings Foundation said. Hit by a severe crosswind as it touched down, the bomber overshot a runway and plunged down a hill. It was later repaired.

The crash reduces to nine the number of B-17s actively flying, said Rob Bardua, spokesman for the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, near Dayton, Ohio.

In 1995, a refurbished World War II-era Grumman Goose crashed while landing at the DuPage Airport in West Chicago, killing two. That plane was not associated with the Collings Foundation.

The Boeing-built B-17 Flying Fortresses were used in daylight bombing raids against Germany during the war. The missions were extremely risky, with high casualty rates, but helped break the Nazis' industrial war machine.

The B-17 that went down was built in 1945, too late to see combat in the war, according to the Collings Foundation.

It served in a rescue squadron and a military air transport service before being subjected to the effects of three nuclear explosions during testing, the foundation said. It was sold as scrap and eventually was restored. The foundation bought it in 1986.

“This is kind of shocking. It's a loss to lose a B-17,” said Hamer, whose father served in the Air Force. “I mean, there aren't very many of those left.”

• Daily Herald Staff Writer Bob Susnjara contributed.