Liberty Belle B-17 Emergency Landing Fire

Glenn Pew () for . The airplane is the B-17 Flying Fortress known as the “Liberty Belle.“ All seven people on board reportedly escaped and survived this event, without injury, but the aircraft appears to be a total loss. It made an emergency landing and burned in a cornfield at about 10 a.m., Monday morning, June 13, near Aurora Municipal Airport outside Chicago. The B-17 had departed from Aurora and soon after the pilot reported a fire on board. Several residents said they saw the plane flying low trailing smoke and flames prior to the emergency landing. The field was about five miles away from the airport. The “Liberty Belle“ was once owned by the New England Air Museum in Connecticut. The Liberty Foundation of Florida acquired the aircraft in 1992and the aircraft had been flying since 2004. The B-17 was at Aurora to participate in a Salute to Veterans over the weekend.