A restored vintage World War II B-17 Flying Fortress bomber crash landed in an Illinois field Monday.

After landing and skidding to a halt, the Liberty Belle burst into flames and was destroyed.  Everyone on board made it out alive and unhurt.

The plane's owner -- the Liberty Foundation -- stated that pre-flight maintenance is being considered in the investigation, but so far has not been associated in any way with the crash.

What we know for sure is that the plane had landed safely, but experienced a small fire that spread across it, eventually engulfing the plane.  Fire trucks couldn't get to the plane at all because the field was too soft to drive on due to rainfall.

It's a big loss for aviation historians.  The aircraft didn't see combat during the war, but it was built exactly like its namesake, which crashed back in 1943.

Here are more shots of the Liberty Belle:

1940 --

2008 --

2011 crash --

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