HE-111 crashes

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Central/0...mber.crash.ap/

CHEYENNE, Wyoming (AP) -- A World War II-era German bomber en route to an air
show crashed into a building under construction Thursday, killing the pilot and
his passenger, police said.

Witnesses said they heard a sputtering sound shortly before the twin-engine
HE-111 plowed through a chain link fence and slammed into the brick structure,
igniting a fire that lasted an hour, police Lt. Robert Korber said.

A construction worker who was inside the building -- an unfinished school bus
washing facility -- fled and escaped injury, said Tom Rooney of the Laramie
County school district.

The bomber was the last of its kind known to be flying in the world, said Tina
Corbett, spokeswoman for the Commemorative Air Force.

The plane belonged to the Arizona wing of the organization, which flies and
restores World War II aircraft. The plane was en route from Midland, Texas, to
an air show in Montana when the pilot reported engine failure, Corbett said.

The identities of the pilot and passenger were being withheld until their
families could be notified.

"The plane came down in a field," Korber said. "We're just grateful (the pilot)
probably made the decision that he saw a residential area in front of him and
decided to put it down where there were not a lot of houses, or this could have
been much, much worse."