Tragic loss of B17G 909 at Bradley Field

[tac]

Multiple fatalities, including two firefighters. x 10,000

Updates are coming in momentarily.

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[P7M13]

WWII experience, reenacted.
Godspeed to all on board.

 

[PiratePast40]

Is that the same one that was here at Salem this summer?

 

[3MTA3]

Such a tragic loss of life. It's also very sad to lose this piece of history, but that's nowhere near the loss felt by the loved ones of those who perished.

 

[DirectDrive]

Is that the same one that was here at Salem this summer?

It was the "909"

 

[DirectDrive]

I hope someone didn't put Jet A into the old bird.

 

[DB is Here]

That's incredibly sad...Godspeed.

 

[3MTA3]

World War II-era plane crash victim identified, Air National Guard chief hailed for rescuing passengers

One of the seven people killed when a World War II-era bomber crashed in Connecticut on Wednesday shared excited updates on Facebook about the doomed flight just minutes before disaster struck.

www.foxnews.com

 

[RTFM]

Not sure if anyone knows this.
There were 12 flying air frames of B-17 in the world (now 11)
At the time of the crash 10 are flying in North America 2 in Europe

Every single air frame that is with us today was never flown in combat - each was in manufacturing when the war ended.
While still a great loss of history (I'll leave out the loss of life discussion) the Nine-O-Nine lost was NOT the Nine-O-Nine that flew in combat in WWII
After the hostilities ceased in Europe, Nine-O-Nine was returned to the United States on June 8, 1945, consigned to the RFC facility in Kingman AZ on December 7, 1945, and eventually scrapped.

B-17G-85-DL, 44-83575, civil registration N93012, owned and flown by the Collings Foundation appeared at airshows marked as the historic Nine-O-Nine.
The original aircraft, a block 30 B-17G manufactured by Boeing was nicknamed after the last three digits of her serial number: 42-31909.

Each owner of every air frame has painted their plane to look like a historical B-17.

 

[Aero Denezol]

Is that the same one that was here at Salem this summer?

Yes. This particular a/c has been coming up to Salem/Corvallis and (I believe) on up to Seattle every summer for years now. I've been through it many times. It was a beautifully restored airplane.

 

[tac]

Sally B is the name of an airworthy 1945-built Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress, it is the only airworthy B-17 left in Europe, as well as one of three B-17s in the United Kingdom. The aircraft is based at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, England,[1] Sally B flies at airshows in the UK and across Europe as well as serving as an airborne memorial to the United States Army Air Forces airmen who lost their lives in the European theatre during World War II.

The aircraft was delivered to the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) on 19 June 1945 as 44-85784, too late to see active service in the war. After being converted to both a TB-17G training variant and then an EB-17G it was struck off charge in 1954. In 1954 the Institut Géographique National in France bought the plane for use as a survey aircraft.[1] In 1975 it moved to England and was registered with the CAA as G-BEDF[2] to be restored to wartime condition.

 

[SUPER X]

Made it through WW11. And now goes down on a pleasure ride

Prayers x 7

 

[RangerArms]

So sad...I toured her in Hillsboro one year and took LOTS of photos on the ground and in the air...I had a T-shirt from it that I wore the heck out of until it finally about fell off me in tatters. The loss of of a piece of history sucks but the loss of life is so tragic...Imagine what it takes to keep some of these old warbirds operational.

 

[tac]

Made it through WW11. And now goes down on a pleasure ride

Prayers x 7

Not so. It was built post-war.

 

[Kruel J]

Terrible.

 

[WillametteWill]

Prayers to all. I was very close to taking a ride in that a couple of year ago. Very sad indeed.

 

[RicInOR]

7 injured,

At least one hero, however

Air National Guard command chief hailed hero after pulling passengers from crashed plane at Bradley Airport

Bradley Airport at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

 

[Ura-Ki]

I was almost going to take a ride in her last summer and had planned to do so this coming summer! We took my Brothers little ones over to see the 5 planes they tour around with, and the kids got to climb up inside and have a look around! We took lots and lots of photos while there!
What a tragic loss all around! Sadly, There may have been an old vet or two aboard, many flights were shared with vets from WW-II and later, but still, ANY loss is a terrible thing! I'm heart broken to loose yet another of our countries treasures, testament to the greatness this country is capable of when the need is great!
God Speed Nine-0-Nine, may the skies be clear and bright, and clear of Messerschmidts!

 

[gmerkt]

I'm not surprised at this news. I live not too far from Paine Field, which is the home of several flying heritage-type organizations. It's not rare to have B-25's taking off under full power over our place. Too many times to count I've thought that it's only a matter of time before one of these 74 plus year old planes augers into the ground. It's like driving a vintage car, you never know when something is gonna fail but with aircraft, you have the extra dimension involved and you can't just pull over to the side of the road when something goes wrong.

People have to remember that when these planes were flying actively every day during WW2, crashes were common. Daily, somewhere, I would guess, there were so many flying at the time. Pilot error and mechanical failure, many weather situations, etc. I'm talking strictly non-combat crashes. Many involved training flights, after all, things go wrong often in that process. Before my dad went overseas, he was training Lockheed P-38 fighter aircraft. Those were fairly high performance aircraft and didn't suffer fools gladly. One of his friends from training lost power on takeoff, crashed and was badly burned. He was lucky to live but his flying days were over permanently. Before that, they trained on Bell P-39's that had been sent to Russia, used in combat, then flown back by ferry pilots who were picking up new ones for the outbound trip back to Russia. The used-up P-39's were turned over to the USAAF to train our pilots. They had many fatal splash-downs due to mechanical failure.

Our boys flying these things in WW2 were young, had to start somewhere but flying airplanes has its hazards. Some personnel losses were to be expected. The more they flew, the more experienced they got at it. But what I wonder at now is, the guys flying these elderly warbirds today, how's their experience factor? I'm sure some have many hours, likely not all that many in warbirds simply because of age. And I wonder how many hot-rods like to get their turn, get checked out in one to acquire bragging rights. Experience counts big when something goes wrong. And then there was the active duty colonel at Fairchild who flew a B-52 into the ground. He had tons of experience yet he just couldn't keep from showing off. Yes, flying (and riding in) aircraft can be very unforgiving for a number of reasons.

 

[No_Regerts]

I'm not surprised at this news. I live not too far from Paine Field, which is the home of several flying heritage-type organizations. It's not rare to have B-25's taking off under full power over our place. Too many times to count I've thought that it's only a matter of time before one of these 74 plus year old planes augers into the ground. It's like driving a vintage car, you never know when something is gonna fail but with aircraft, you have the extra dimension involved and you can't just pull over to the side of the road when something goes wrong.

People have to remember that when these planes were flying actively every day during WW2, crashes were common. Daily, somewhere, I would guess, there were so many flying at the time. Pilot error and mechanical failure, many weather situations, etc. I'm talking strictly non-combat crashes. Many involved training flights, after all, things go wrong often in that process. Before my dad went overseas, he was training Lockheed P-38 fighter aircraft. Those were fairly high performance aircraft and didn't suffer fools gladly. One of his friends from training lost power on takeoff, crashed and was badly burned. He was lucky to live but his flying days were over permanently. Before that, they trained on Bell P-39's that had been sent to Russia, used in combat, then flown back by ferry pilots who were picking up new ones for the outbound trip back to Russia. The used-up P-39's were turned over to the USAAF to train our pilots. They had many fatal splash-downs due to mechanical failure.

Our boys flying these things in WW2 were young, had to start somewhere but flying airplanes has its hazards. Some personnel losses were to be expected. The more they flew, the more experienced they got at it. But what I wonder at now is, the guys flying these elderly warbirds today, how's their experience factor? I'm sure some have many hours, likely not all that many in warbirds simply because of age. And I wonder how many hot-rods like to get their turn, get checked out in one to acquire bragging rights. Experience counts big when something goes wrong. And then there was the active duty colonel at Fairchild who flew a B-52 into the ground. He had tons of experience yet he just couldn't keep from showing off. Yes, flying (and riding in) aircraft can be very unforgiving for a number of reasons.

A duck boat with wings.