Hudson – A vintage Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, owned by the Collings Foundation in Hudson, crashed at the end of a runway at Bradley Airport in Conn. Oct. 2 as its pilot tried to land, the FAA said in a statement.
Seven of the 13 people on board the plane died as a result of their injuries. Authorities said the accident occurred approximately five minutes after take-off when the plane had engine trouble and then slammed into a building used to house the airport’s deicing equipment.
Hunter Chaney, director of marketing for the foundation released this 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 Airport.
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.
In the wake of the tragic accident involving the B-17, the Collings Foundation is currently suspending its flight operations and the Wings of Freedom Tour for the remainder of the 2019 season. We are in the process of issuing refunds for those who had reserved flights through December.
The Battle for the Airfield Event at the American Heritage Museum is still taking place on Saturday, Oct. 12 and Sunday, Oct. 13. Visit the following link for details and tickets: https://www.americanheritagemuseum.org/event/battle-for-the-airfield-wwii-re-enactment
