Two aircraft crash incidents happened with one involving a WWII B-17 Flying Fortress Bomber crash on On Monday, June 13, 2011 and another incident involving a Goodyear Blimp that crashed on Sunday, June 12, 2011.The Flying Fortress bomber crashed and burned in a cornfield southwest of Chicago, but seven crew members and volunteers walked away without serious injury.
The Goodyear Blimp burst into flames and plunged to the earth in a weekend crash in the vicinity of the Reichelsheim airport near Frankfurt Germany.
B-17 Flying Fortress Crash:
The B-17, christened the Liberty Belle, took off from the Aurora Municipal Airport at 9:30 a.m. and made an emergency crash landing in Oswego, 44 miles outside Chicago, after the pilot reported an engine fire, said Sugar Grove Fire Chief Marty Kunkle. The plane ploughed into a cornfield — but the seven people on board, including the two pilots, were able to escape without serious injury.
Goodyear Blimp Crash:
The pilot, Michael Nerandzic, 53, was killed but three passengers managed to jump to safety when the airship caught fire as it was coming in to land at the Reichelsheim aerodrome near Friedberg.
When the airship was just two metres from the floor, Mr Nerandzic told his passengers, all journalists, to jump to the ground while he tried to land safely.
But once the three had leapt clear, the sudden loss of weight caused the blimp to soar skywards and burst into flames before crashing to the earth in a chilling echo of the Hindenburg disaster.
(The usual disclaimers: I am not a journalist; This isa blog that expresses an outlook and is not conclusive in any shape or manner.)
