B-17 Crash Raises Questions About Vintage Plane Safety-- Part 4: Only Nine of These Still Fly Now

A Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said that if an issue is discovered during the investigation that might apply to the fleet, the agency will take appropriate action.  Vintage planes need to be certified as airworthy by the FAA and are subject to periodic inspections.

Owners can obtain s FAA "living history flight exemption" to offer flights to paying customers, but they must comply with extra federal requirements for safety and maintenance.

"I would not have any hesitation about flying in these aircraft," said Dick Knapinski, a spokesman for the Experimental Aircraft Association of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, an organization of aviation enthusiasts and airplane restorers.

The association flies one of the few remaining B-17s.

Its B-17 was scheduled to visit Hyannis, Massachusetts, over the weekend but did not plan to offer passenger flights out of respect for those connected to the B-17 crash.

The Connecticut crash reduces to nine the number of B-17s actively flying according to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, near Dayton, Ohio.

--GreGen

B-17 Crash Raises Questions About Vintage Plane Safety-- Part 3: Twenty-One Accidents with WW II-Era Bombers Since 1982

Arthur Wolk continued:  "No one alive went through the military training program for these aircraft. The engines are old with no new parts being manufactured for decades.  Even in service, these planes needed the resources of a government to keep them flying.  The aircraft and engines were never intended to last this long so intense maintenance and inspections are vital to continued safety."

Since 1982, the National Transportation Safety Board has investigated 21 accidents involving World War II-era bombers.  They resulted in 23 deaths.  Three of those accidents involved B-17Gs, not counting the one that crashed Wednesday.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, asked that the NTSB during its investigation of the Connecticut accident look at the inspection and maintenance requirements on vintage planes and whether they need to be more vigorous.

--GreGen

B-17 Crash Raises Questions About Safety-- Part 2: A Fiery Crash Killed Seven

But a deadly crash in Connecticut last week of the same B-17 that Gloria Bouillon rode in has cast a pall over the band of brothers and sisters who enjoy riding in vintage planes and raised questions of whether machinery over 70 years old should be flying passengers.

The propeller driven 1945 bomber crashed Oct. 2 at the Hartford airport, killing seven of 13 people aboard after a pilot reported engine trouble on takeoff.  The cause of the fiery wreck is under investigation.

Arthur Alan Wolk, a lawyer who specializes in crash litigation in Philadelphia, said Friday that the accident shows the risks associated with flying old planes:  They break.

He said the rules for operating vintage aircraft are stringent, but he questioned whether compliance and training are adequate.

"No one alive ever flew or maintained one of these aircraft in service," he wrote in a blog post.

--GreGen

B-17 Crash Raises Questiona About Vintage Plane Safety-- Part 1: Going Up In One Is a Real Step Back In Time

From the October 10, 2019, Chicago Tribune by Jennifer McDermott.

The roar of its four engines, the plexiglass nose, the bristling machine guns-- for history buffs and aviation enthusiasts, few thrills compare with that of a flight aboard aircraft like the B-17 Flying Fortress, the World War II bomber that helped smash the German war machine.

"It made you feel like you were back in the 1940s," said commercial pilot Gloria Bouillon, who rode in one last month and called it the best flight of her life.  "They had it set up just like it would be on a mission.  You could put your head out of the hatch.  It was windy.  It was noisy.  You could smell the fuel.  It was much different from a flight now."

--GreGen