On October 2, 2019, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress privately owned by the Collings Foundation crashed at Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, Connecticut, United States.

The Foundation's executive director, Rob Collings, had previously requested changes to allow visitors to manipulate the controls of the aircraft and argued that the FAA had been too strict in interpreting the rules of the program.

[3] The aircraft involved was a 74-year-old Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, military serial number 44-83575 (variant B-17G-85-DL) with civilian registration N93012.

[4] The aircraft was painted as a representation of a different B-17G,[5] Nine-O-Nine, with military serial number 42-31909 (variant B-17G-30-BO), which had been scrapped shortly after World War II.

[6] During its original military career, the plane operated as an Air-Sea Rescue aircraft until 1952, when it was reassigned to the Air Force Special Weapons Command for use as a specimen in weapons-effects testing.

Following its operator's liquidation in 1985, the aircraft was acquired by the Collings Foundation in January 1986,[5] restored to its 1945 configuration, and N93012 was flying as Nine-O-Nine by August 1986.

[17] One of the passengers on the plane, a Connecticut Air National Guardsman, managed to open an escape hatch after the crash, despite having a broken arm and collarbone.

According to the FAA, the foundation had not maintained a "culture of safety", and key personnel overseeing the flight were ignorant of the safety management system (SMS) that the organization had been required to implement to earn the exemption; the FAA found that the B-17 crew chief was completely unaware that the SMS existed.

According to the final report released by the NTSB on May 17, 2021, the probable cause of the crash was:[18]: 5  The pilot's failure to properly manage the airplane's configuration and airspeed after he shut down the No.

[18]: 3,4 According to the final report, a key factor leading to the crash was the pilot's decision to fly the airfield traffic pattern at an airspeed of about 100 mph (160 km/h) with the landing gear extended.

[18]: 3  The pilot lowered the gear about 2.7 nmi (5.0 km; 3.1 mi) from the runway threshold, in the downwind leg of the traffic pattern.

[18]: 3  The board's airplane performance study found that the B-17 could have reached the runway if the pilot had increased airspeed by lowering the nose and keeping the gear retracted until the final approach.