October 3, 2019 (NBCNews) Seven people aboard a vintage World War II
plane were killed Wednesday when it crashed shortly after takeoff, erupting
into flames at Bradley International Airport, just outside of Hartford,
Connecticut, authorities said. State Police Commissioner James Rovella told
reporters at an evening news conference that the families of all but three of
the victims had been contacted. The flight took off at 9:45 a.m. before
reporting five minutes later that it was having difficulties, authorities said.
"We observed that the aircraft was not gaining altitude," Connecticut
Airport Authority Executive Director Kevin Dillon said. The plane tried to
return to the airport when it crashed at 9:54 a.m., officials said.
A Boeing
B-17 used by the U.S. military during World War II. Many such heavy
bombers were deployed in Poltava during the operation “Frantic Joe”
There were
13 people on board the Boeing B-17, two pilots, one attendant, and 10
passengers. Another person on the ground was injured when the plane slid off
the runway and slammed into a building used to house the airport's deicing
equipment, officials said. Witness Brian Hamer, who lives in Norton,
Massachusetts, was less than a mile away from the airport when he spotted the
B-17, “which you don’t normally see,” flying low overhead. Hamer saw smoke
coming from the back of the craft and heard one engine sputter. “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. Another witness, Antonio Arreguin, was
parked at a construction site 250 yards from the crash site when he heard an
explosion — and felt the heat from the ensuing fire. “In front of me, I see
this big ball of orange fire, and I knew something happened,” Arreguin said.
“The ball of fire was very big.” Hartford Hospital received six patients from
the crash, three were initially listed in critical condition, two in moderate
condition and one with just minor injuries, doctors there said.
Read a full articleand
see a video at https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/vintage-b-17-plane-crashes-erupts-flames-bradley-international-airport-n1061161
0 comments:
Post a Comment