B-17 landing accident today, Van Nuys, Calif.

That's a bummer. I had a chance to fly a hop in this aircraft two
summers ago - nothing like sitting in the bombardier's seat, surrounded
by plexiglass and watching the countryside rush by!

-Jim C.

Paul Hirose wrote:

The Channel 2 news aired a crew member interview this afternoon:

HARRISON: It was so sudden that you don't have much time to think.

REPORTER: William Harrison is the former owner of this B-17 Flying
Fortress and was in the copilot seat when, 26 seconds after touchdown,
the front gear suddenly collapsed.

HARRISON: We followed all of our procedures. We had the gear down, the
green light to show that it was down, we looked outside to confirm it,
and so we didn't expect anything.

REPORTER: And Harrison says they still don't know exactly why the gear
gave way.

Footage taken today showed the B-17 sitting on the ramp at Van Nuys,
gear down, but with 4 aircraft jacks apparently supporting the plane.

According to an EAA spokesman quoted in the L.A. Daily News, its
"Salute to Veterans" national tour may be cancelled.

http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1...129868,00.html

--

Paul Hirose
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On Fri, 07 May 2004 21:19:01 -0400, Jim Calpin
wrote:

That's a bummer. I had a chance to fly a hop in this aircraft two
summers ago - nothing like sitting in the bombardier's seat, surrounded
by plexiglass and watching the countryside rush by!

Hear! Hear! About 10 years ago, I had the thrill of riding aboard the
B-17 (Nine O Nine) flown by the Collings Foundation. We flew from
Burbank to Torrance. You're right about the bombardier's chair--he had
the best ride on the plane.