B-17 Bomber crash, June 13, 2011
By: Keith Draycott
Seven crew members and volunteers were lucky to walk away without serious injury from 'Liberty Belle' a World War II B-17 Flying Fortress bomber when an engine fire forced the crew to make an emergency landing in an Illinois corn field.
The bomber had just taken off from Aurora Municipal Airport, Sugar Grove, 40 miles west of Chicago when the fire was spotted by the pilot of a Curtiss P-40 aircraft flying in formation with the ill fated B-17. Once safely on the ground an explosion and subsequent fire quickly engulfed the veteran bomber destroying the majority of the centre fuselage section.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were on the scene Monday afternoon interviewing the two Liberty Foundation pilots. The pilots flew the historic plane throughout the year offering flights to veterans and aviation enthusiasts all across the United States. Tim Sorensen, an air-safety investigator for the NTSB, said the crew of the B-17 had smelled smoke and was trying to find the source when they were alerted by another plane that their aircraft was on fire. The fire apparently began in the bomber's No. 2 two engine, closest to the fuselage on the left side. Sorensen went on to praise the pilot, for keeping his composure and setting the plane down in the field as part of a “controlled landing.”
Dave Gause a spokesman for The Liberty Foundation - the aircrafts owners, reported that it took nearly 15 years and $3.5 million to restore the Liberty Belle before adding with great sorrow that "little of the Liberty Belle appears to be salvageable".
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Current Issue: The Hawker Hurricane
Two UK fighters have gone from being mere machines to become icons. The first is the Supermarine Spitfire, the second is the subject of the next issue of Aviation Classics... the Hawker Hurricane.
Designed by Sydney Camm, it represented the bridge between biplane and monoplane technology and was originally known as the ’Monoplane Fury’, after the Fury biplane fighter of 1931. The type formed the backbone of RAF Fighter Command, with 18 squadrons in service when the Second World War began in September 1939. Hurricanes saw action over France and the Low Countries before the Battle of Britain began in June 1940, during which they were to shoot down more enemy aircraft than all the other air and ground defences put together. Later, it went on the offensive in Europe – as a night intruder and fighter bomber. Large numbers fought over Malta, the Western Desert, Burma, India and the Far East, excelling as fighters and ground attack aircraft. All over the world the Hurricane earned a reputation for reliability and toughness. This issue tells the story of the Hurricane and its crews from inception to war career.
PLUS:
• Next issue on sale: 25th May 2012
