B-17 Plane Crashes at Bradley Airport Outside Hartford

An antique military plane crashed while trying to land at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut on Wednesday morning, killing an unspecified number of people and setting off a large fire that could be seen well beyond the airfield.

Several people were also injured, but their conditions were not immediately known. Hartford Hospital said it had received six patients, according to a spokesman.

Photos posted on social media showed flames and plumes of black smoke rising from the airport, which is near Hartford.

“A vintage Boeing B-17 crashed at the end of Runway 6 while attempting to land at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Conn., at 10 a.m.,’’ according to a statement by the Federal Aviation Administration. “It is a civilian registered aircraft, not flown by the military.”

Eyewitnesses said the plane appeared in trouble. Brian Hamer, a witness at the airport, told a local television station, Fox 61, that one of the plane’s engines sounded like it had lost power. Then, the aircraft began to “sputter and smoke” and “made a very very wide turn,” before crashing.

Another man at the airport told the station that the aircraft sounded like it was in trouble before it crashed.

“The engines were definitely struggling,” the witness told Fox 61. “Normally when an engine is running smoothly it sounds good. This was catching and skipping and misfiring.” The pilot, according to the witness, “was very low.”

The plane, which was described as Flying Fortress bomber belonging to a nonprofit aviation foundation, crashed into a building at the airport. The airport was closed as a result of the accident.

The airplane took off from Bradley International Airport at 9:48 a.m. according to FlightAware.com, a website that tracks airplane flights. Between that time and 9:53 a.m. it never got higher than 200 feet off the ground.

During the five minute flight, the airplane make a right circle back to the airport.

Bradley is the main commercial airport in Connecticut and is home to the New England Air Museum, which houses a number of vintage aircraft.

The nonprofit aviation organization, the Collings Foundation, promotes “living history” events. Founded in 1979, it focuses on “transportation-related events” and in the mid-1980s expanded to include “aviation-related events” like air shows, according to the group’s website. Since 1989, the foundation has focused on the “Wings of Freedom Tour” featuring World War II aircrafts.

The B-17 was performing what are called “heritage flights,” in which people fly in a historical airplane, according to workers at the airport.

The plane was one of several that were brought this week to the New England Air Museum for a week of activities related to the 40th anniversary of a major tornado in the area.

“The aircraft loss is a great letdown and if there is injury and loss of life, it’s a terrible thing,” said John Grier, an aircraft technician who works for the owner of a private jet at Bradley. “That B-17 has been in service for many, many years.’’

The Collings Foundation said that its “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.”

Christine Negroni contributed reporting.