NTSB publishes report on loss of restored B-17G Liberty Belle

The full report can be found here:

http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief2.aspx?ev_id=20110613X14032&ntsbno=CEN11FA383&akey=1

It also looks like the full report isn’t out yet: https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/2011/oswego_il.html

The full narrative of the preliminary report makes interesting reading though.

There’s a lot more to it than that. The rubber bag tanks had been previously removed and discarded, and the breather holes in the outer metal tanks plugged by welding the aluminium. The required 337 approvals were not submitted to the FAA for this significant modification to the fuel system. Best to read the full NTSB Probable Cause report.