A World War II-era bomber plane crashed Wednesday just outside New England’s second-busiest airport, and a fire-and-rescue operation was underway, official said.
A spokesman for Gov. Ned Lamont confirmed the crash of the B-17 plane at Bradley International Airport north of Hartford, Connecticut. The airport said in a message on Twitter that it has closed.
The airport, about a 15-mile drive north of Hartford, is closed as a result of the crash, it said.
We can confirm that there was an accident involving a Collings Foundation World War II aircraft this morning at Bradley Airport. We have an active fire and rescue operation underway. The airport is closed. We will issue further updates as information becomes available.
— Bradley Intl Airport (@Bradley_Airport) October 2, 2019
A fire with black smoke rose from near the airport as emergency crews responded to the site.
The plane, a vintage Boeing B-17 bomber, crashed at the end of a runway while its pilot tried to land, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. It is a civilian-registered aircraft, not flown by the military, the FAA said.
It wasn’t clear how many people were on board or where the plane was going, Lamont spokesman Max Reiss said. The New England Air Museum is near the airport.
Airport officials said the plane was associated with the Collings Foundation, an educational group that brought its “Wings of Freedom” vintage aircraft display to Bradley International Airport this week.
A representative of the group could not immediately confirm any information about the crash but said it would issue a statement.
The CNN Wire contributed to this report.
