Some local excitement yesterday. I fly out of the Aurora, IL airport, and the B-17 ‘Liberty’ had been there over the weekend to sell rides and tours. On Sunday, it was grounded as they tried to repair a fuel leak. Monday morning it took off for Indianapolis, and had an engine fire and started to return to Aurora, but determined that they couldn’t make it. The pilot set it down in a field successfully, and then it burned to the ground. It didn’t “CRASH”, it had a problem that was competently handled by the pilot, who landed it gear down in a field. It did burn up, but I think the pilot showed professional skill, and that it was an unfortunate incident/mechanical failure emergency that was handled as well as could be expected.

 

Bill Schertz
KIS Cruiser #4045
N343BS
Phase one testing Completed

 

WWII bomber that crashed underwent maintenance over weekend

A photographer captures the moments after a World War II-era B-17 bomber crashes in a cornfield southeast of Aurora Municipal Airport today. Seven crew members and volunteers walked away without serious injury, officials said. (Photo by Dan McHale / June 12, 2011)

By Gerry Smith, Cynthia Dizikes, Serena Maria Daniels and Carlos Sadovi Tribune reporters

4:59 p.m. CDT, June 13, 2011

A World War II "Flying Fortress" bomber that crashed and burned in a cornfield this morning had undergone maintenance over the weekend, but investigators say they aren't sure why the B-17 developed problems.

The plane, christened the "Liberty Belle,"  took off from the Aurora Muncipal Airport at 9:30 a.m. and made an emergency crash landing near Highway 71 and Minkler Road in Oswego after the pilot reported an engine fire, according to Sugar Grove Fire Chief Marty Kunkle.

• Related
• Photos: "Liberty Belle" B-17 crashes
• Story: Vet turned down trip on plane: 'I was lucky this morning'
• Photo archive: A ride on the Liberty Belle

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.

The crew had smelled smoke and were trying to pinpoint the problem when the pilot of another plane, a single-engine T6 Texan, radioed them about the engine fire, according to Tim Sorensen, an air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.

The fire exploded after the landing, causing damage mostly to the fuselage and cockpit.

Sorensen said NTSB investigators did not know the cause of the fire but said crews were working on maintenance to the plane over the weekend. The NTSB will release a preliminary report in about a week and a final report in nine months.

NTSB officials will return to the scene Tuesday to determine how to remove the craft from the field. Investigators will also review pilot and maintenance records.

One person on the plane was treated at Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora and released, hospital spokeswoman Courtney Satlak said.

The plane was headed to the Indianapolis Regional Airport and was due to arrive at about noon, according to Allisa Pipes, an airport spokeswoman. The plane was scheduled to give flights to the media today and was expected to offer flights to the public over the Father’s Day weekend, Pipes said.

Don Brooks, founder of the Liberty Foundation, said the seven people on board were crew members and volunteers who help with the foundation’s tours around the country.

The foundation had been flying the "Liberty Belle" since it was restored in 2004, Brooks said. The plane had not missed more than “a couple days” due to mechanical problems, he said, once flying to England and back with no problems.

“The airplane had been maintained meticulously,” Brooks said. “We almost never have problems with it. We don’t know what happened to it other than there was a fire.”

Brooks said the pilot, whom he would not identify, did “a masterful job” getting the plane down quickly and safely.

Brooks said the foundation has another plane – a restored Curtis P-40E Warhawk – that was in Aurora this weekend and flew safely to Mount Comfort. The foundation has another B-17 that is still being restored, Brooks said.

“It’s a sad day but a good one in that no one was hurt,” Brooks said. “An airplane can be replaced.”

Jim Barry was at his home in the Deerpath Creek subdivision when he heard a plane flying low overhead. "The windows were rattling. I said, 'That's a crop duster.' "

He looked out and saw the bomber and a smaller yellow plane. An engine on the left wing of the bomber -- the one farthest from the cockpit --- was on fire.

"Not a lot of flames, just more smoke than flames," Barry said.

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 -- around 500 yards from his home. "He did a great job," Barry said.

Once the plane was on the ground, flames started shooting 50 feet in the air. Within minutes, emergency crews were at the crash site.

"It was shocking," Barry said.

His neighbor, Drew Mundsinger, was driving back home with his son after dropping off other children at school when they saw the plane flying low overhead. A smaller plane was flying with the B-17.

Mundsinger said he knew the plane was in the area providing rides and didn't think much of it. When they came close to their home, they saw large plumes of dark smoke filling the air and at first thought it was someone burning leaves.

Then he and his son realized one of the planes had crashed. By the time he reached his home, he saw the plane burning in a cornfield about 500 yards behind his home.

"It looked like nothing could survive that," said Mundsinger, whose home was about 500 yards from the smoldering crash. "The scary thing is, it was heading right at our house. It made my heart race up a beat. I can clearly look straight out at it.”

Gene Sheeley was loading groceries into his car outside a Jewel store when he heard a plane flying overhead. Looking up, Sheeley said he noticed the bomber was gliding extremely low over the intersection of Orchard Road and Illinois Route 71 in Oswego.

“I thought this puppy is flying low, but I didn’t realize it was going to crash,” Sheeley said.

But moments later Sheeley, 72, saw a large plume of black smoke rising into the clear blue sky.  “The first thing that came to my mind was did anybody get hurt,” Sheeley said.

The B-17 was primarily deployed by the U.S. Army Air Forces in daylight strategic bombing of German industrial and military targets.  It  also participated to a lesser extent in the Pacific, where it conducted raids against Japanese shipping and airfields.

The plane that crashed was manufactured in 1944. It was sold on June 25, 1947 as scrap to Esperado Mining Co. of Altus, Okla. and was sold again later that year to Pratt & Whitney for $2,700, according to the foundation's website.

Whitney operated the B-17 from Nov. 19, 1947 to 1967 to test turboprop engines. It was donated in the late 1960s to the Connecticut Aeronautical Historic Association in East Hartford, but was heavily damaged in 1979 when a tornado threw another aircraft against the B-17’s mid-section, breaking the fuselage, the foundation said.

It was stored in the New England Air Museum in Connecticut until the foundation began restoring it.

The plane travels around the country, giving rides to the public at $430 each. It was at the Aurora Municipal Airport on Saturday and Sunday, according to the foundation's website. It was due to visit Indianapolis, Dayton and Cincinnati in the next few weeks.

chicagobreaking@tribune.com