A rare World War Two-era plane has crashed at an airport in the US state of Connecticut, killing seven people.

Thirteen people were on board the vintage Boeing B-17 - dubbed the Flying Fortress - when it went down and burst into flames minutes after take-off outside Hartford on Wednesday.

The aircraft was civilian-registered and was not being flown by the US military, aviation officials say.

Experts say only about 10 B-17 planes are still being flown around the US.

State Police Commissioner James Rovella told reporters at a news conference, adding: "Victims are very difficult to identify, we don't want to make a mistake."

The B-17 flight departed at 09:45 local time (14:45GMT). Five minutes later it reported having difficulties. The crash occurred near the Bradley International Airport at 09:54.

"We observed that the aircraft was not gaining altitude," said Connecticut Airport Authority Executive Director Kevin Dillon.

Source: bbc.com

BDST: 1210 HRS, OCT 03, 2019

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