Five people killed in B-17 crash at Bradley Field in Hartford CT

[Anti Federalist]

Five people killed in B-17 crash at Bradley

https://www.wfsb.com/news/five-peop...cle_d514bd24-e51d-11e9-b6ac-47e02ec67428.html

Rob Polansky, Kaitlyn Naples Posted 19 min ago 1

At least five people were killed in a B-17 plane crash at Bradley on Wednesday.

WINDSOR LOCKS, CT (WFSB) - Five people have died in the vintage WWII plane crash at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks on Wednesday.

The Associated Press confirmed the deaths Wednesday afternoon.

The crash happened around 10 a.m.

State police said the pilot was attempting to make a landing on one of the runways when the B-17 aircraft crashed. The pilot had reported a problem shortly after takeoff and tried to swing the plane around. Police said the plane was in the air for approximately five minutes.

At least six patients were brought to Hartford Hospital, officials said.

The Life Star emergency helicopter confirmed that it transported one of them. Another patient was transported to Bridgeport Hospital.

Troopers reported that some of the victims were injured beyond recognition.

Windsor Locks first selectman Chris Kervick confirmed that 13 people in all were aboard the plane. Three were crew members and 10 were passengers.

Kervick said it crashed into a building near the de-icing area of the airport.

State police said one person was inside that building at the time of the crash.

On Wednesday afternoon, Simsbury officials confirmed two volunteer firefighters were aboard the B-17. Their conditions are unknown at this time.

A member of the Connecticut Air National Guard was also a passenger on the B-17 at the time of the crash, and was injured.

The airport was shut down on Wednesday morning, but reopened as of about 2 p.m. The Federal Aviation Administration put a ground stop on all flights to the airport.

For a list of flights in and out of Bradley, click here.

The town of Windsor also said a health advisory was issued for a potential discharged of firefighting foam into the Farmington River, originating from the plane crash at Bradley.

The Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection did respond to the crash.

The aircraft is a civilian-registered aircraft and was not flown by the military, according to the FAA.

"We can confirm that there was an accident involving a Collings Foundation World War II aircraft [Wednesday] morning at Bradley Airport," Bradley Airport posted to Twitter. "We have an active fire and rescue operation underway. The airport is closed. We will issue further updates as information becomes available."

The Collings Foundation, which owns the plane, released a statement.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with those who were on that flight and we will be forever grateful to the heroic efforts of the first responders at Bradley," the foundation said. "The Collings Foundation flight team is fully cooperating with officials to determine the cause of the crash of the B-17 Flying Fortress and will comment further when details become known."

Troopers said any immediate family members only looking for information on the crash can call the Connecticut State Police Message Center at 860-685-8190.

Five vintage WWII planes were on display at the airport to honor veterans as part of a Wings of Freedom Tour. It's unclear if any of those planes were involved.

In a statement on Wednesday, the New England Air Museum said "On behalf of the entire New England Air Museum family, our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by today's crash of a vintage B-17 aircraft at Bradley International Airport. Although we are not connected to the Collings Foundation or these flights, the New England Air Museum and the Collings Foundation have a decades-long relationship and we are deeply saddened by today's tragedy."

 

[Anti Federalist]

State police said the pilot was attempting to make a landing on one of the runways when the B-17 aircraft crashed. The pilot had reported a problem shortly after takeoff and tried to swing the plane around. Police said the plane was in the air for approximately five minutes

Do NOT do this.

No faster way to die than to try and wrench around back to the runway after a loss of power incident.

This almost always will lead to a stall/spin close to ground that cannot be recovered from.

Nose down, maintain airspeed, maintain aircraft control, pick best possible emergency landing spot.

 

[phill4paul]

Terrible. I have a lot of respect for these vintage restorers and pilots. Just terrible.

 

[phill4paul]

Do NOT do this.

No faster way to die than to try and wrench around back to the runway after a loss of power incident.

This almost always will lead to a stall/spin close to ground that cannot be recovered from.

Nose down, maintain airspeed, maintain aircraft control, pick best possible emergency landing spot.

Agreed. Read another report in which witnesses affirmed that a prop was not functioning. One prop shouldn't have been a problem. It had to be multiples.

 

[acptulsa]

It's a pity to lose people dedicated to the preservation of history.

Clearly we need more, not less, of them, if the performance of the media is any indication...

Five vintage WWII planes were on display at the airport to honor veterans as part of a Wings of Freedom Tour. It's unclear if any of those planes were involved.

What vintage did you think the B-17 was? The War of 1812?

 

[Anti Federalist]

Agreed. Read another report in which witnesses affirmed that a prop was not functioning. One prop shouldn't have been a problem. It had to be multiples.

No, especially with no bomb load.

Only thing I can think of is system wide fuel failure: contaminated fuel, low fuel, fuel crossover issues, fuel pump issues, fuel management failure.

 

[Anti Federalist]

It's a pity to lose people dedicated to the preservation of history.

Clearly we need more, not less, of them, if the performance of the media is any indication...

What vintage did you think the B-17 was? The War of 1812?

Terrible loss of life but also loss of an aircraft that can never be replaced.

 

[phill4paul]

Terrible loss of life but also loss of an aircraft that can never be replaced.

An amazing warbird. The last time one was in town I got to tour it. The cost of flying in it was a little hefty for my wallet at the time.

 

[phill4paul]

The call must have been made right at the start of the problems. It indicates only one engine.

The controller said, “What’s the reason for coming back?”


“Number 4 engine, we’d like to return and blow it out.”

“You can proceed to runway 6 and you said you need an immediate landing?”

“When you get a chance yeah.”

“I just want to make sure because we have air traffic coming in can you go or do you need to be on the ground right now?”

Another witness said it sounded like everything was shutting down...

it was that low and it just sounded like exactly what [Angela] said a big 18 wheeler and the engine was failing. You could hear it it just sounded crazy. Sounded like it was dying, like the engine was, everything was just shutting off.”

https://www.courant.com/breaking-ne...0191002-jfkph65krrfhxlrlb3eehksdiu-story.html

 

[Anti Federalist]

The call must have been made right at the start of the problems. It indicates only one engine.

Another witness said it sounded like everything was shutting down...

FOD or birds won't stop those Wright radials...I'm sticking with some sort of fuel issue.

I'm not familiar enough with the 17's fuel system to say for sure, but something shit the bed or was forgotten, is my guess.

 

[Anti Federalist]

“You can proceed to runway 6 and you said you need an immediate landing?”

“When you get a chance yeah.”

That's another thing as well. Nobody likes to do it, just like they don't like to sound the GA or call Mayday from a ship.

If I have an unexplained power loss, I'm declaring an emergency, immediately.

I don't care if I got one or 20 engines underneath me.

If it turns out to be nothing, OK, so be it...we'll sort it out later, on the ground.

 

[Anti Globalist]

Heart goes out to the families of the loved ones.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Bummer. Watched those circling all day last year as they were giving people rides...

 

[Stratovarious]

Do NOT do this.

No faster way to die than to try and wrench around back to the runway after a loss of power incident.

This almost always will lead to a stall/spin close to ground that cannot be recovered from.

Nose down, maintain airspeed, maintain aircraft control, pick best possible emergency landing spot.

Agreed, the pilot should have known better.

Probably a case of; ''been flying these things for 60 years, I can bring it back to the strip'' .
Air speed is everything, you lose lift in a turn.

We had a husband wife locally, wife was 80 something been instructing for many years,
she took them up for a flight , her, the husband and a passenger , dead.
The best of the best get cocky , complacent , and just down right careless, the shame is they're gone
and can't help anyone understand and learn from their mistakes.

 

[Anti Federalist]

Agreed, the pilot should have known better.

Probably a case of; ''been flying these things for 60 years, I can bring it back to the strip'' .
Air speed is everything, you lose lift in a turn.

Aviate.

Navigate.

Communicate.

 

[Stratovarious]

Aviate.

Navigate.

Communicate.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Anti Federalist again.

 

[phill4paul]

Worth the watch. I guess it's easy to armchair quarter back. Guilty as charged at this point.

And what this org does is amazing...

 

[Anti Federalist]

Worth the watch. I guess it's easy to armchair quarter back. Guilty as charged at this point.

And what this org does is amazing...

Let me make something clear, not so much to you Philll, you know what I mean, but to anybody reading.

I have nothing but respect for the work that all the various restoration societies do around the country, Collings, CAF, private owners.

I have no desire to see these publicity flights shut down or banned, as I am sure there will be a clamoring for, from government pencil necks, safety nazis and the insurance mafia.

Nor do have any desire to "armchair quarterback" this horrible incident, and can say nothing more than my prayers and condolences go out to those who died and their families.

But the fact of the matter is that to prevent such incidents in the future, there has to be an honest critique and review of the person in command's performance at a critical juncture, based on the information given, to find out what went wrong, what was preventable and how to frame the lessons learned in such a way as to enhance that prevention. And it ends up looking an awful lot like "armchair quarterbacking".

I picked apart the performance of a fellow ship's master and crew of the El Faro sinking numerous times, and still do in safety meeting and briefings to this day.

I've drummed some pretty powerful lessons learned into the crew's head that way.

Someday it may save their lives.

This situation was drummed into my head by my first flight instructor, who just happened to be a ex-17 pilot and WW2 vet.

Over thirty five years have gone by but I still remember his warning and instructions on dealing with a power failure while in close proximity to the ground: Nose down - Save your airspeed - Find a place to ditch.

Your natural tendency is to try and pull up, gain altitude, nurse whatever is broke back to the runway.

And as the video I posted showed, that is almost sure death.

It's the worst possible option set, but you have to force yourself: nose down, maintain airspeed, maintain control - Aviate - Navigate - Communicate - then pick the best place to land your broken bird.

Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger understood this critical phase of flight better than anybody else in recent aviation history: he knew he'd never complete a turn back or an extended stretch to Newark or Teteboro with damage and lack of power he was dealing with.

 

[Anti Federalist]