IDENTIFIED.
(MM)
THE N-T-S-B--
IS BACK ON SCENE AT BRADLEY
AIRPORT--
CONTINUING THEIR INVESTIGATION
INTO THE CAUSE OF WEDNESDAY'S
---DEADLY PLANE CRASH.
AS WE TOLD YOU LIVE AT FIVE..
TODAY-- INVESTIGATORS ARE TAKING
PICTURES -----AND REMOVING PARTS
OF THE WRECKAGE
TO BE EXAMINED CLOSELY AT
ANOTHER LOCATION.
THE CRASH KILLED ----SEVEN OF
THE 13 PEOPLE ABOARD THE PLANE.
NEW AT SIX..
WE'RE HEARING FROM A RHODE
ISLAND MAN..
WHO TOURED THAT SAME PLANE--
WHEN IT WAS HERE IN RHODE
ISLAND.
EYEWITNESS NEWS REPORTER ERICA
RICCI JOINS IS WITH THE
NEW DETAILS
"THE PLANE THAT WENT DOWN IN
CONNECTICUT WAS IN QUONSET JUST
WEEKS BEFORE. THESE PHOTOS WERE
SHARED WITH US BY RON BARNES WHO
TOURED THE PLANE WHILE IT WAS
HERE. THOUGH HE TOLD ME A RIDE
DID CROSS HIS MIND. "
RON BARNES WATCHED THE B-17 TAKE
OFF FROM QUONSET...
AND LAND.
"And I was thinking 'yeah i'd
love to take a ride on it'"
BUT RON CHOSE TO SIMPLY TOUR THE
MILITARY PLANE DURING HIS VISIT
ON SEPTEMBER 11-TH.
HE SIMPLY WANTED TO CONNECT WITH
HIS PAST.
"the first thing I did was touch
the side of it because I wanted
to know what it felt like"
HE WANTED TO KNOW WHAT IT WOULD
HAVE *BEEN LIKE TO BE A FIGHTER
PILOT IN WORLD WAR TWO...
BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT HIS DAD WAS.
"that's where my dad sat, that's
the radio position so obviously
I sat there and took a picture"
BARNES SHOWED ME THE PICTURES HE
TOOK WHILE WE TALKED AT HIS
CRANSTON HOME FRIDAY.
BUT I FIRST MET RON LAST
VETERAN'S DAY...
AS HE SHARED HIS FATHER'S HEROIC
SURVIVAL AS A PRISONER OF WAR.
STAFF SERGEANT RAYMOND BARNES'
PLANE WAS SHOT DOWN BY THE
GERMANS IN 1943.
HE BECAME ONE OF THREE SURVIVORS
AFTER HE EJECTED FROM THE PLANE
BEFORE IT HIT THE GROUND.
THIS IS A PICTURE OF HIS B-17
AFTER THE CRASH.
AN IMAGE THAT FLASHED IN RON'S
MIND WHEN HE SAW THIS WRECKAGE
AT BRADLEY AIRPORT IN
CONNECTICUT WEDNESDAY.
THE SAME PLANE HE HAD WALKED ON
IN QUONSET JUST TWO WEEKS
EARLIER.
BUT IT WASN'T HIS OWN LUCK ON
HIS MIND WHEN NEWS OF THE CRASH
BROKE.
"it made me think more of wow,
these guys everytime they went
up was probably a potential risk
to be flying in one of these"
HE WAS THINKING OF THE VETERANS
AND THE VICTIMS.
"People can't be replaced adn
it's a terrible tragedy from
that standpoint"
"and ron says this week's crash
didn't take away his desire to
one day fly on a bomber like his
dad did. in the newsroom, er,
