Two Historic Military Planes Collided And Fell In A ball Of Flames During An Air Show In Dallas

Two historic military planes collided and fell in a ball of flames during an air show in Dallas, killing six, authorities said. National transport officials were investigating the cause of Saturday's collision, which occurred three years after the accident. of a WWII-era bomber in Connecticut that killed seven people and amid ongoing concerns about the safety of air shows featuring older fighter jets. the city center. 

News footage from the crime scene showed the crumpled wreckage of the planes on a lawn inside the airport compound. District doctor.

Authorities are continuing to work to identify the victims, he said. It was unclear whether there were  injuries or deaths on the ground. The Dallas Fire-Rescue Department told the Dallas Morning News that there were no reports of injuries. Anthony Montoya saw the two planes collide. "I stayed there.

I was completely shocked and in  disbelief," said Montoya, 27, who attended the air show with a friend. There were on every plane, but Hank Coates, president of the company that organized the air show, said one of the planes had one B-17 Flying Fortress bombers usually have a crew of four to five people.

The other, a P-63 Kingcobra fighter jet, has a single pilot. There were no paying customers  on the plane, said Coates of the Commemorative Air Force, which also owns the planes. The planes are flown by highly trained volunteers, often retired pilots, he said. The National Transportation Safety Board took control of the crash site, with local police and fire departments providing assistance, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said. The Federal Aviation Administration will also be investigating, officials said.

"The videos are heartbreaking," Johnson said on Twitter. The planes collided and crashed around 1:20 p.m., the FAA said in a statement. Victoria Yeager,  widow of famed Air Force test pilot Chuck Yeager and  a pilot herself, was also at the show. He didn't see the collision, but he did see the burning debris.

"It was pulverized," said Yeager, 64, who lives in Fort Worth. "We were  hoping everyone would have gotten out, but we knew they didn't," he said of those on board. A cornerstone of the US Air Force during World War II, the B-17 is a massive four-engined bomber used in daylight raids against Germany. The king cobra, a U.

A fighter aircraft used primarily by Soviet forces during the war. Most B-17s were scrapped at the end of  World War II and few remain today, mostly on display in museums and air shows, according to Boeing. Various videos posted on social media showed the fighter jet appearing to be flying towards the bomber, causing it to quickly fall to the ground and emitting a large ball of fire and smoke. "It was really awful to watch," said viewer Aubrey Anne Young. 37, from Leander, Texas. His children were in the hangar with their father when it happened.

"I'm still trying to figure it out. In a video that Young posted to his Facebook page, a woman  can be heard crying and screaming next to Young. Safety at air shows, particularly  older military aircraft, has been a concern for years. In 2011, 11 people were killed in Reno, Nevada, when a P-51 Mustang crashed into bystanders. In 2019, a bomber crashed in Hartford, Connecticut, killing seven people.

The NTSB said at the time it had investigated 21 accidents involving World War II-era bombers since 1982, resulting in 23 fatalities. Wings Over Dallas bills itself as "America's premier WWII air show," according to a website promoting the event. The show was scheduled for November 11-13, Veterans Day weekend, and guests were able to see more than 40  World War II-era aircraft. introduced the B-17 and the P-63 in 

Arthur Alan Wolk is a Philadelphia aviation attorney who has been involved with air shows for 12 years. After watching video of the air show  and hearing the maneuvers dubbed "parade bombers," Wolk told The Associated Press on Sunday that the P-63 pilot violated the basic rule of formation flight. "He turned his head against the leader," said Wolk. "This prevents you from measuring distance and position. The risk of collision is very high if you cannot see who you should be in formation with and this type of join is not allowed.

He added: "I don't blame anyone and to the greatest extent possible, air shows, the pilots and the planes that fly in them are safe. Air shows are one of the largest spectator events in the United States and it is rare for a tragedy like this to happen. Wolk said it takes extensive training and discipline to fly in an airshow environment. The P-63 pilot's airshow qualifications  are unknown. According to our Dallas County Medical Examiner, there were a total of 6 deaths in yesterday's Wings  from the Dallas Air Show incident.

The authorities will continue to investigate and identify the deceased today. Pray for their families and everyone involved.