When I first heard the news on the radio about the B-17 crash in Illinois, I had a horrible feeling it was the Liberty Belle.
I had the chance to ride in the plane a couple years ago for a story. It was a really fun experience. I can still remember how weird it was to feel so much air go by me as the plane took off (since part of the top canopy was open) and how cool it was to look down at Albany and the Hudson River and Troy from the perspective of a WWI pilot or bombardier in the clear/open bomb targeting spot under the pilot.
The craft was a real beauty.
While I'm glad no one was killed in the emergency landing (also glad I wasn't one of the people on it at the time), it is a tragedy that the plane was destroyed as it was a piece of our history.
We should consider ourselves lucky to have had the opportunity to ride it or even look up at it in the sky during its visits to the Capital District.