Vintage WWII B-17 bomber crashes outside Chicago

OSWEGO, Ill. (AP) — A B-17 bomber that dates to World War II has crashed and burned in a cornfield outside Chicago.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory says aviation officials believe the seven people on board the plane escaped uninjured. She says the plane took off from Aurora Municipal Airport this morning and crashed about 20 minutes later in Oswego.

Fire officials say the pilot reported a fire shortly after taking off. Firefighters from Oswego, Sugar Grove and Plainfield responded to the crash. But fire officials say they’re having difficulty accessing the crash because of wet fields.

The vintage plane was made in 1944 and is known as a “Flying Fortress.” Cory says it is registered to the Liberty Foundation in Miami.