There were 13 people on board Collings Foundation B-17 Nine-O-Nine Crash, two pilots, one attendant, and 10 passengers. Another person on the ground was injured when the plane slid off the runway and slammed into a building used to house the airport’s deicing equipment.

As reported on Oct. 2, 2019 the Collings Foundation B-17 Nine-O-Nine crashed shortly after takeoff. According to NBC News the Flying Fortress erupted into flames and killed people on board at Bradley International Airport, just outside of Hartford, Connecticut.

“There were fatalities,” State Police Commissioner James Rovella told reporters, while not specifying exactly how many were killed. “Victims are very difficult to identify, we don’t want to make a mistake.”

Seven people onboard the aircraft were killed, James Rovella, commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, said at a news conference Wednesday evening.

Six people on the plane survived. Rovella said he couldn’t give names of the victims because not every family has been notified.

The World War II-era bomber took off at 9:45 a.m. before reporting five minutes later that it was having difficulties, authorities said.

“We observed that the aircraft was not gaining altitude,” Connecticut Airport Authority Executive Director Kevin Dillon said.

Officials said that the B-17 tried to return to the airport when it crashed at 9:54 a.m., officials said.

There were 13 people on board the aircraft, two pilots, one attendant, and 10 passengers. Another person on the ground was injured when the plane slid off the runway and slammed into a building used to house the airport’s deicing equipment, officials said.

Witness Brian Hamer, who lives Norton, Massachusetts, was less than a mile away from the airport when he spotted the B-17 flying low overhead.

Hamer saw smoke coming out the back of the craft and heard one engine sputter.

“Then we heard all the rumbling and the thunder, and all the smoke comes up and we kind of figured it wasn’t good,” Hamer said.

Hartford Hospital received six patients from the crash, three were initially listed in critical condition, two in moderate condition and one with just minor injuries, doctors there said.

One of the injured, who survived, is a member of the Connecticut Air National Guard, a rep for the service told NBC New York.

Bradley — in Windsor Locks, about 15 miles north of Hartford — is hosting Wings of Freedom airshow this week.

Many planes in the Wings of Freedom show are owned by Collings Foundation.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with those who were on that flight and we will be forever grateful to the heroic efforts of the first responders at Bradley,” the foundation said in a statement.

“The Collings Foundation flight team is fully cooperating with officials to determine the cause of the crash of the B-17 Flying Fortress and will comment further when details become known.”

Photo credit: News12