The plane that crashed in Bradley International Airport in Connecticut today was a restored WWII-era Boeing B-17, a heavy bomber plane used mostly in Germany and Western Europe. The B-17 is owned by the Collings Foundation, a non-profit foundation dedicated to preserving transportation-related history.
The Collings Foundation website said the B-17 was "made famous in its role in the Daylight Strategic Bombing Campaign of WWII and the post-war movies that made it an icon." The bomber is also called the "Flying Fortress".
The Collings Foundation's specific B-17 was used in the final scene of the 1965 movie "Thunderball." It's name is “Nine-O-Nine."
Although Nine-O-Nine was built too late for combat, it did serve as part of the Air/Sea 1st Rescue Squadron and later in the Military Air Transport Service, according to the Collings Foundation. It then underwent nuclear testing in 1952, and the plane later served as a fire bomber, dropping water and borate on forest fires.
It was sold in January 1986 to the Collings Foundation.
This was not the plane's first crash: in 1987 Collings' B-17 crashed during an air show in Western Pennsylvania, causing injuries but no fatalities.
The plane has made over 1200 tour stops since the 1987 crash.
CNN's Paul P. Murphy contributed to this report
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