B-17 Liberty Belle fire & landing in Oswego,Ill, EVERYONE OK

[TAdan]

more pics: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110613/news/706139928/photos/AR/

Those are heartbreaking to look at. Looks like the crew did an amazing job landing her.

[the330thbg]

Their site is down.., guess it is not necessary anymore!

[the330thbg]

more pics: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110613/news/706139928/photos/AR/

Sure nice to see the firemen standing around watching it burn

Obviously they are not prepared to fight such an intense fire.

[RyanShort1]

Sad day. Here are some pictures from about a year ago.









The crew was very friendly and seemed like a great bunch. I can only imagine how devastating this must be, VERY glad that everyone got out OK.

Ryan

[Warbirdnerd]

Their site is down.., guess it is not necessary anymore!

It works from here:
http://www.libertyfoundation.org/index.html

Very sad day indeed. I took my father in law and 4 snot monsters to see her last weekend in St Paul, I was dissapointed the P-40 was not around, but had no idea I would not be seeing the Belle again... The pictures are still on my camera.

[Randy Haskin]

Heartbreaking pictures.

As always, pax lived and metal (no matter how rare) can always be replaced.

Bravo Zulu to the crew!

[seabee1526]

[bmoran]

Based on the picture showing the B-17 on it's gear, I would say that the the term emergency landing due to an onboard fire is more appopriate verbange than crash. Kudos to the crew for getting her down safely and everyone out.

[snj5]

Kudos to the crew for a terrific emergency landing harming no one on the ground and minimal crew injuries.
Well done, indeed.

As for the plane, well, I'm just sick.

[Steve Nelson]

Like everyone else, I'd like to salute the crew for doing a fantastic job getting her down in one piece and getting everyone out safe. The pics and video of the wreck are indeed gut-wrenching, but at the end of the day lives are far more important than a hunk of tin. I just hope this incident doesn't cause a "ground those dangerous relics" backlash that kills all the flight experience programs. That's about the only thing keeping the big iron flying these days.

SN

[Django]

I see in the Daily Herald link that they put her down wheels down. I couldn't figure out why the props weren't bent. Duh. Wonder how much time had lapsed from shut down to that engulfed photo with the fire fighter?

[cwmc]

more pics: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110613/news/706139928/photos/AR/

Sure nice to see the firemen standing around watching it burn

Obviously they are not prepared to fight such an intense fire.

That's for sure. That fire bottle wouldn't do much.

If the fire was controllable the crew probably would've landed at the airport. Prop feathered and on it's wheels would indicate the crew did all there was to do. Looks like the pilots did a real nice job.

Once stopped on the ground with a gasoline fire, the fire dept has limited effect. Even if the local FD had a tanker that they could get onto that field, they don't have foam.

That picture of it on it's wheels, burning and doomed, reminds me of a friends picture of the Catalina he had just landed in the Pacific half way between Hawaii and Tahiti. It looked so serene there, but it was going to eventually sink no matter what.

Chris...

[bluehawk15]

I'd hazard a guess that the problem engine was the left inboard. The pics and video show it as having the prop in the feathered postion.

Such a sad loss, but it could have been so much worse!

[Steve Nelson]

I only had the pleasure of seeing Liberty Belle twice..at 2005 and 2010 Thunder Over Michigan "B-17 Roundups." These are the best shots I was able to get.

[WIXMOD-Alpha]

Looking here, it appears that the aircraft was "relatively" intact on the ground.

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2011 ... 15/photos/