On the morning Oct 2, 2019, a World War II vintage airplane (B-17 bomber) crashed soon after take off from Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks (Hartford), CT. This was not a commercial airplane but a privately owned plane giving rides as part of an overall historic airplane celebration. 13 people were believed to be on board and 6 were transported to area hospitals, along with one individual on the ground.. It is believed that the remaining 7 passengers perished.
The plane which was completely decimated, released an unknown amount of jet fuel, a 10,000 gallon tank of isopropanolamine (glycol for deicing) was damaged by the plane with an unknown amount released, and large quantities of AFFF fire fighting foam was used, both on the plane and on a building that was damaged and on fire from the crash. Some product was released to storm drains prior to them being sealed with unknown quantities leading to both Rainbow Brook and to a municipal sewage treatment plant. Numerous federal, state, and local agencies have responded and a cleanup contractor has boomed the brook and has been vacuuming foam and fuel from the Brook which feeds the Farmington River and eventually the Connecticut River. Foam was also vacuumed from the crash site. Water samples were collected from the brook for PFAS analysis.
A Region 1 EPA OSC responded, integrated into Unified Command and is working with the CT DEEP.
