(Radio Iowa) — A World War Two-era military plane that crashed in Connecticut Wednesday, killing seven people and injuring seven others, was on display in northeast Iowa this summer. The B-17 Flying Fortress came to the Waterloo Regional Airport in late July as part of the Wings of Freedom Tour, a mobile educational exhibit that’s been touring the nation since 1989. Connecticut authorities say 13 people were on board the historic four-engine, propeller-driven plane when it slammed into a maintenance building and burst into flames at a Hartford-area airport.

FILE – In this April 2, 2002, file photo, the Nine-O-Nine, a Collings Foundation B-17 Flying Fortress, flies over Thomasville, Ala., during its journey from Decatur, Ala., to Mobile, Ala. A B-17 vintage World War II-era bomber plane crashed Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019, just outside New England’s second-busiest airport, and a fire-and-rescue operation was underway, official said. Airport officials said the plane was associated with the Collings Foundation, an educational group that brought its “Wings of Freedom” vintage aircraft display to Bradley International Airport this week. (John David Mercer/Press-Register via AP, File)

According to multiple reports, the vintage plane struggled to get airborne while taking off and went down as pilots were circling back for an emergency landing. The cause of the crash is under investigation.