An air show featuring vintage World War II-era planes ended in tragedy on Saturday in Dallas when two planes collided in mid-air.
Video from witnesses shows the collision between the two planes, which plummeted to the ground and caught fire. Smoke from the fire could be seen throughout southern Dallas.
The Wings Over Dallas airshow was put on by the Commemorative Air Force. The group has its headquarters in Dallas and has held the show at Dallas Executive Airport for several years.
"We had two aircraft flying. One is a B-17, one is a P-63. The B-17 normally has a crew of four to five - that was what was on the aircraft. The P-63 is a single-piloted fighter-type aircraft," said Commemorative Air Force CEO and President Hank Coates.
Video from the scene shows the P-63 Kingcobra running into the B-17. The event happened during a feature of the show known as the Bomber Parade. Some smaller fighter planes were flying along with the bombers.
"The P-51s were a little bit ahead of the bombers, but the P-63 was lagging behind...that's what it looked like from my standpoint," said Grant English, who was at the air show. "When the P63 was turning left to join in beside the bombers, that's when he collided with the B-17."
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash. Local authorities have not released the names of any of the individuals on board the two planes or their conditions, but the Allied Pilots Association posted a message on Twitter identifying two of the crew members as former APA members. The Allied Pilots Association is the union representing pilots for Fort Worth-based American Airlines.
The APA identifies the former members as Terry Barker and Len Root. It says they were lost in the collision and that the union will be offering counseling services to members.
For the members of the Commemorative Air Force, the collision is a devastating incident.
"The people that are flying at the air shows are volunteers. All the pilots are vetted very carefully. These guys are very well-versed. Many of them are airline pilots, retired airline pilots or retired military pilots. These guys do very thorough training," said CAF President Hank Coates. "We are a very close-knit family. Everybody knows everybody. The outpouring of support I'm getting right now is amazing."
He offered his thanks to the first responders at the scene, including Dallas Fire-Rescue and the Dallas Police Department.
"The families are being taken care of. They're receiving counseling. Not just those actively participating in the issue, but the CAF folks and any folks here that may have seen it and have issues with what they saw, and obviously our first responders," he said.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson described the event as "a terrible tragedy in our city". He asked for "a prayer for the souls who took to the sky to entertain and educate our families".
Governor Greg Abbott noted that several state agencies assisted with the response to the crash.
Related
Related
