NTSB investigating whether B-17 that crashed at Bradley International Airport Wednesday had engine troubles prior to takeoff
Emergency crews respond to a WWII B-17 bomber crash that happened just before 10 a.m. at Bradley International Airport Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019, in Windsor Locks. (Kassi Jackson / Hartford Courant)
Investigators are trying to determine if the vintage World War II-era plane that crashed Wednesday at Bradley International Airport, killing seven people and injuring seven others, had engine troubles prior to takeoff, law enforcement sources said Thursday.
Sources said concerns about the B-17 bomber’s engine stemmed from interviews with survivors of the crash. National Transportation Board member Jennifer Homendy confirmed that in a Thursday afternoon press conference, but said that those interviews are not official reports.Also, investigators are looking into the performance and fitness of the pilots — both of whom died in the crash. Such an examination is conducted in most federal crash investigations.
Homendy said that pilot Ernest McCauley, 75, had 7,300 hours of flight time on the B-17. That may have made McCauley the most experienced B-17 pilot in the nation.
He’d been flying for Wings of Freedom for 20 years, Homendy said, and co-pilot Michael Foster, 71, had been a volunteer pilot for the Collings Foundation for five years.
Authorities sifted methodically through wreckage at the airport Thursday morning. A team of NTSB investigators were on the runway and surrounding area on the southern end of the airport, reviewing impact marks that the massive Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress, owned by the Collings Foundation, made in the ground and examining the remains of the aircraft.
Homendy said that the 75-year-old plane’s last “major inspection” was in January.
“That inspection is called a continuous airworthiness inspection. From there, there are requirements to have progressive inspections,” Homendy said. “We do not know the quality of those inspections, we do not know if any issues were identified. We will be looking at that as part of the investigation.”Homendy said that the NTSB has requested training records for the pilots and other crew members, as well as air traffic transcripts from the Federal Aviation Administration and flight records for the plane. The board has also received a number of videos and photos from the public.The Collings Foundation said it was cooperating with investigators.
It could be up to 10 days before the NTSB, charged with investigating serious transportation accidents, files a report on their investigation and another 12 to 18 months before they make any determinations on the cause of the crash.
“Our mission is to determine what happened, why it happened and to prevent it from happening again,” Homendy said.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal was quick to call for an investigation into the plane.“I think there is a real need for scrutiny and oversight here … It’s a vintage airplane and it needs to be properly maintained. If there were defects and improper maintenance it is a very strong red flashing light for others flying these planes,” Blumenthal said.
Trouble reported shortly after takeoffHomendy said that the plane hit the ground about 1,000 feet short of Bradley’s runway 6. The plane crashed at 9:53 a.m., Homendy said. That’s just minutes after the plane took off.