Collings Foundation B-17 Crashes

On October 2, 2019, a Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress (Registration: N93012, nicknamed ‘Nine O Nine’) belonging to the Collings Foundation was involved in an accident at Bradley International Airport located in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, USA.

The aircraft crashed at 09:54am (local time) with 13 people aboard, consisting of ten passengers, two pilots and a flight attendant. Seven of those on board died in the crash and the remaining six were taken to hospital, with three people said to be in a critical condition.

The B-17G had taken off from Bradley International Airport at 09:45am (local time) on a routine flight taking aviation enthusiasts aloft in the famed WW2-era bomber. Just five minutes into the flight, however, problems were reported (as per local news) and not long after the aircraft crashed into a shed at the airport containing deicing equipment, close to the end of runway 6.

Kevin Dillon, Connecticut Airport Authority Executive Director, told NBC News: "We observed that the aircraft was not gaining altitude."

In a statement, the Collings Foundation said: "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 Collings Foundation flight team is fully co-operating with officials to determine the cause of the crash of the B-17 Flying Fortress and will comment further when details become known."

An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is under way and we will be monitoring developments closely.