The Collings Foundation’s iconic B-24 sustained minor damage in a bizarre incident that shut down a runway at Dallas’ busy Love Field this week. The aircraft was on a takeoff roll when debris, possibly concrete from the runway, entered the cockpit of the historic World War II bomber, hit the copilot in the hand. It was then flung out of the aircraft.
The B-24, known as the Liberator Witchcraft, is the last of its kind still flying. It sustained damage to a propeller and part of the fuselage and will be undergoing repairs. The aircraft was made in Fort Worth 74 years ago and is the only one of its kind still in existence, according to the news report.
The pilot was injured, but not seriously, and aborted the takeoff. The runway, 13R, was closed briefly after the incident, which happened on April 3, but the airport remained open. Crews inspected the runway and found a “failed concrete patch” according to local Dallas NBC affiliate news report. The airport made repairs to the surface of the runway.
A spokesman for the owners of the aircraft, the Collings Foundation, called it “a close call” and said damage to the plane was mostly “cosmetic.”
