B-17 crash, destroyed.
 

Bad news from the US, a B-17 just crashed this morning after takeoff from Aurora, Ill. I couldn't tell which one from the video. Good news is that all seven on board escaped without injury.

From the video of the accident, from the furrows in the open field they landed in, the landing gear was down and it was obviously a controlled landing.

The fuselage from the cockpit to the tail was completely destroyed by fire.

I think that leaves just 14 B-17s in flying condition in the world left.

No links available as of this time.

"Liberty Belle "

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,5852034.story

All aboard lived to fly again.

P-40 pilot aided emergency
 

What rotten bad luck; but at least the crew are safe.

With the B-25 in France, been a bad couple of weeks for US bombers...:{

This was the aircraft that visited the UK for Flying Legends and several other shows two or three years ago.

Bummer :-(

BTW, are those things like a brick when you lose one engine after take-off??? I really never studied the B17 that much, more the single engine WW2 planes were my interest

KP

It may be of interest to some, to know that Liberty Belle had a very unique post-war history,

Pratt and Whitney used it as an engine testbed with a fifth, (usually turboprop,) mount on the nose.

She was retired to the New England Air Museum in Connecticut, but was 'destroyed' by a direct hit by a major tornado.

Amazing restoration efforts turned her back into a B-17G, reg: N-390TH.

Here she is from a year ago operating from Jackie Cochrane airport in Thermal Ca.

http://jetset.zenfolio.com/img/v20/p503989964-4.jpg

[YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]

Not sure that it actually lost the engine, though the prop does appear to have been feathered.

According to other websites, the fire was spotted by an accompanying P-40, and was below the wing just aft and outboard of number two; it then attempted to return to Aurora. Presumably the fire quickly became intense enough to demand an immediate landing.

Great shame to lose a historic machine but human life will always come before an aeroplane.
Well done to the pilots. :ok:

Pretty clean forced landing judging by those pictures.

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/a...01/N390TH0.jpg

Too bad for the fire :(

absolutely tragic, and judging by those pictures, a quicker arrival of some proper extinguishing gear could easily have saved the plane intact :{

i take it its way too far gone for any sort of rebuild?

More info about what happened from the Liberty Foundation's Chief Pilot on their site here...

You start with the data plate and work outwards. B17, Boeing construction number xxxx, will fly again. Probably called Liberty Belle.

PS. If a field is capable of supporting a fuelled B17 without the mains sinking, would it also support a fire truck? :hmm:

Would it be a broken fuel line for the flame to be way back there?? Unsure where the spar or the fuel drain points are - maybe an expert could answer?

Liberty Belle captain interview
 

Colorado Pilot Recounts B-17′s Emergency Landing In Field « CBS Denver

(Video is 1/3 down the page...)

For want of a nail
 

Scuttlebutt is that in the burned-out wreckage, a broken fuel line and a broken support bracket were found. If the latter induced the former, then the chain of events is pretty clear. :uhoh: :ugh:

Followup to my post above: The Colorado pilot in the TV interview was flying in the RH seat.