SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA – MAY 09: Robert Pinkston arrives in Santa Ana flying a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress “u201cNine O Nine”u201d WWII Heavy Bomber on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. This is the only B-24 in the world that can still fly. The vintage Boeing B-17 crashed on Oct. 1, 2019, at the end of a runway while attempting to land at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)”n
The Collings Foundation announced that they're ending the Wings of Freedom tour years after a World War II-era aircraft crashed and left several dead at Bradley Airport.
The foundation suspended the tour immediately after the Oct. 2, 2019 B-17 crash which killed seven people and injured eight others. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the tour and its operations.
The 1944 World War II-era B-17 aircraft crashed at the end of a runway. The plane was at Bradley Airport for the "Wings of Freedom Tour" sponsored by the Collings Foundation. The B-17 bomber was known at one point as the "Flying Fortress" or the 909.
The Collings Foundation said the plane crash "sent shock waves through the aviation community and the foundation itself."
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
The Wings of Freedom tour has been around for over 30 years. With the tour ending, the Collings Foundation said they will display historic aircraft in a new museum in Stow, Massachusetts.
The pandemic majorly impacted the tour, leading to the cancellation of many events and significant financial losses.
The foundation said the end of the Wings of Freedom tour marks the beginning of a new chapter.
Local
"For over three decades, the Collings Foundation's Wings of Freedom Tour has been a beacon of reflection, education and remembrance, taking aviation enthusiasts and students of history on a journey back in time," the foundation said.
The museum will feature over 90 tanks, vehicles, aircraft and artillery pieces dating back from the Revolutionary War to now. For more information, click here.
