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OT- Liberty Belle B-17 crashes
Erik Markov, Photographer
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G.J. McCarthy, Photographer
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Dallas | TX | US | Posted: 3:48 PM on 06.13.11 |
->> Wow, that is sad. I flew in that thing like last year I think with a bunch of vets. It was a pretty awesome thing to experience.
Glad no one was hurt.
- gerry - |
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Adam Vogler, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Kansas City | Mo. | USA | Posted: 3:57 PM on 06.13.11 |
| ->> Went up last month, so glad that the crew was unharmed, they were great to work with, but its sad to see such a great piece of history lost. |
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Shaun Sartin, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Dennis Wierzbicki, Photographer
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Plainfield | IL | USA | Posted: 7:03 PM on 06.13.11 |
->> Just saw it buzzing around the Western suburbs this past weekend. Really sad to hear of its crash.
Glad nobody was hurt. I think that only leaves 13 flying B-17's left in the world.
Looking at the pictures, there isn't much left to salvage, although I once visited a warbird restoration facility in Orlando where they salvaged a P-38 from a crash site inside a glacier in Iceland (or some such place) and very little of that aircraft was usable, but they still rebuilt it. |
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Harrison Shull, Photographer
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Fayetteville, WV | Asheville, NC | | Posted: 7:20 PM on 06.13.11 |
->> Actually it did not "crash" per se.
The report says - "Witnesses said the pilot set the plane down between a tower and a line of trees. Seven crew members and volunteers walked away without serious injury."
I fly an aircraft that is WAY lighter/smaller and WAY slower on approach so I speak from some experience when I say that I think the pilot deserves some serious kudos for threading power lines and trees to set the plane down unharmed in a unimproved field so that the crew could all safely evacuate.
Pilots train for the big "what if" and it looks like it paid off this time in a big way. Still sad to see a proud old warbird find her demise that way. |
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Dennis Wierzbicki, Photographer
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Plainfield | IL | USA | Posted: 7:49 PM on 06.13.11 |
->> Well, Harrison, you're technically correct, although it's a distinction I doubt many non-avaitors would make. Maybe a more accurate description would be an emergency landing that resulted in a fire spreading from one engine that destroyed most of the aircraft.
Observers report seeing the number one engine on fire right after take-off. There was a light plane in the vicinity that accompanied the Fortress to the ground. It sounds like the Fortress pilot gently inserted the B-17 into a field between two structures, and the pilot of the smaller plane commended the pilot's skill in avoiding the buildings to bring the Fortress back to the ground safely enough to allow the 7 passengers/crew to evacuate the craft. |
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Dennis Wierzbicki, Photographer
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Plainfield | IL | USA | Posted: 8:09 PM on 06.13.11 |
->> To clarify (since I can't edit my post…still think this is odd):
An update from the Tribune:
The pilot managed to set the plane down in a gap between a relay tower about 60 to 70 feet high and a line of trees 25 to 30 feet high |
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Harrison Shull, Photographer
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Fayetteville, WV | Asheville, NC | | Posted: 8:26 PM on 06.13.11 |
->> Not to pick a bone here, Dennis, but the fire did not "result" from the emergency landing. The engine was already on fire and was the cause for the emergency landing.
Your follow up only reinforces my comment on the pilot's skills and calm in the face of dire odds. I practice for off field landings as a training tool but I never want to have one. I will be interested to hear the pilot's account of what occurred. That will be a NTSB report well worth reading!!
Drives home the old adage - "takeoffs are optional, landings are mandatory." |
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Mike Ullery, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Piqua | OH | USA | Posted: 9:14 PM on 06.13.11 |
->> It was an emergency landing, as opposed to a crash landing. There is a very important distinction beginning with the fact that the crew, in spite of a a fire in one of the engines, kept their cool and put the aircraft on the ground safely, thereby avoiding injury to all but one of the passengers and crew.
That was a heck of a piece of piloting by Libery Belle's crew.
The loss of the irreplaceable warbird is sad but the fact that the crew and passengers are safe is a blessing. |
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Mark Loundy, Photo Editor
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San Jose | CA | USA | Posted: 10:06 PM on 06.13.11 |
->> I think there's something inherent in piloting a B-17 that requires massive balls (or ovaries) of tungsten carbide.
The Forts themselves saved a lot of fliers through their beefy construction. Seven folks today owe a lot to some Boeing workers of more than a half-century ago.
--Mark |
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Andy Bronson, Photographer
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Bellingham | WA | USA | Posted: 10:45 PM on 06.13.11 |
| ->> Flew in her many years ago! Damn shame to lose that plane! Lives saved by great piloting and great design by Boeing! |
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Sam Santilli, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Philippi | WV | USA | Posted: 6:46 PM on 06.14.11 |
->> So very sad, just a few operational B-17's left. My Grandfather was a flight engineer in a B-17G, and reading the story brought back flashes of reading his MACR. Glad everyone got out of this situation alive.
BTW, it runs around $400 for a 24 minute "trip" on a couple of the other touring fortresses. |
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