Traffic & Transit
3 From MA Were On WWII Bomber That Crashed Near Hartford
Seven people died in the Wednesday crash, including men from Ludlow and West Springfield.
LUDLOW, MA — Three men from Massachusetts were aboard a World War II-era B-17 bomber that crashed at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut on Wednesday. Two of the men died and one was injured, according to authorities and reports.
James Roberts, 48, of Ludlow, and David Broderick, 56 of West Springfield, were among seven people killed when the plane crashed after takeoff just before 10 a.m. in Windsor Locks, Conn. Andy Barrett, 36, of South Hadley, was injured in the crash.
There were 13 people on the plane, which was owned by the Stow-based Collings Foundation. Pilot Ernest McCauley, 75, of Long Beach, California, co-pilot Michael Foster, 71 of Jacksonville, Florida and flight engineer Mitchell Milton, 34, of Dalhart, Texas, are all presumed dead. The rest of the passengers on the plane were from Connecticut.
The bomber, which was display at Beverly Regional Airport in mid-September, experienced an engine failure shortly after takeoff. The pilots tried to land the plane, but crashed into a de-icing facility at the airport. The plane burst into flames, injuring one airport worker on the ground.
The plane was on a 100-city "Wings of Freedom Tour" sponsored by the Collings Foundation.
