The deadly crash this week of a World War II-era B-17 Flying Fortress in Connecticut has cast a pall over those who enjoy riding in vintage planes and raised questions of whether such machinery should carry passengers.
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 Nazi war machine.
The propeller-driven 1945 bomber went down at the Hartford airport Wednesday, killing seven of the 13 people aboard, after the 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.
Vintage planes need to be certified as airworthy by the FAA and are subject to periodic inspections. Owners can obtain an FAA “living history flight exemption” to offer flights to paying customers, but they must comply with extra federal requirements for safety and maintenance. 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.
Unlike commercial airline pilots, who must retire at 65, pilots of vintage aircraft can keep flying as long as their medical certificate, training and testing are current.Knapinski dismissed concerns that the knowledge and equipment needed to keep World War II-vintage planes flying are dwindling, saying that pilots and mechanics are trained to a high standard and that original parts or new ones manufactured to the same specifications are available.
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