World War II bomber crashes outside Chicago

CBSNews: World War II bomber crashes outside Chicago
OSWEGO, Ill. - A B-17 bomber that dates to World War II crashed and burned Monday morning in a cornfield outside Chicago, aviation officials said.

The Federal Aviation Administration believes the seven people on board the plane escaped uninjured, spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said.

"The plane is burning," Cory said.

The vintage plane took off from Aurora Municipal Airport on Monday morning and crashed about 20 minutes later in Oswego, Cory said.

Kevin Potts, a farmer in the area, said he saw the plane fly over. He told CBS News Station WBBM-TV in Chicago that the plane was obviously in trouble.

"I noticed that it was a little too low and was kind of coming down, and then I noticed flames coming out underneath its left wing," Potts told WBBM-TV.

Potts said the plane was being escorted by a plane from the Lima Lima flight team.

He jumped in an all-terrain vehicle and went to the crash scene, a cornfield about two miles away.

"It's just an amazing job by this pilot, and thank God that, apparently, everyone walked away," he said.

The pilot reported a fire shortly after taking off, said Sugar Grove Fire Chief Marty Kunkle.

"He attempted to make a return to the airport, but couldn't make it so he put it down in a cornfield," Kunkel said.

Firefighters from Oswego, Sugar Grove and Plainfield responded to the crash. Fire officials said they were having difficulty accessing the crash because of wet fields.

The aircraft was made in 1944 and is known as the "Flying Fortress." It is registered to the Liberty Foundation in Miami, Cory said.