B-17 Flying Fortress & Goodyear Blimp Crashes: Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF)

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.)

Aircraft, Twin-Engine Beech, Crashes Outside Opa-Locka Airport, Florida (May 2, 2011)

A twin-engine cargo Beech aircraft crashes after losing control into a house right after takeoff from the Opa-Locka Airport, in Miami Gardens, Florida.

In Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) there are many hazards at the crash site of an aircraft and the surrounding crash site area. On all the responses on ARFF incidents firefighters ensure that they are safe on approach into the scene and watch how the fire ground may develop as well as keeping eyes open to watch fellow fire fighter’s back. By doing so fire fighters are safe to do the job at hand.

The silver-colored plane was a 1957 Beechcraft, tail number N18R, crashed through trees, fencing, into two cars, and ending up on it's side, on the side of a house that suffered fire damage and smoke damage near Northwest 157th Street and 38th Way of Miami Gardens, Florida. The aircraft incident call came into Miami-Dade Fire Rescue at 8:10 a.m.. The pilot was reported being killed in the crash.

Firefighters quickly arrived on the scene and doused the fierce flames with water and foam. The fire did spread to the side of the home, but firefighters managed to put out the fire before it engulfed the entire home. It took 30 Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units to bring the flames under control.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NBTS) will be investigating the crash, and it may take NTSB investigators up to a year to figure out the actual cause of the aircraftcrash.

Video Of The Aircraft Incident:

(The usual disclaimers: I am not a journalist; This isa blog that expresses an outlook and is not conclusive in any shape or manner.)