6 dead in mid-air collision at Texas WWII show

Six people were killed when a pair of World-War-II-era planes collided in mid-air at a show in Texas and crashed to the ground in a ball of fire, authorities said yesterday. “According to our Dallas County Medical Examiner, there are a total of 6 fatalities from yesterday’s Wings over Dallas air show incident,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said yesterday on Twitter.

The incident at Dallas Executive Airport involved a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a smaller Bell P-63 Kingcobra, the Federal Aviation Administration said Saturday.

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson called the incident “a terrible tragedy,” adding that videos of the incident “are heartbreaking.”

Multiple videos posted on social media showed dramatic scenes of the smaller plane descending toward the lower-flying B-17 and crashing into it as both flew in loops around the airport.

After the collision, the planes appeared to break apart into several large pieces before crashing to the ground and exploding in a ball of fire, creating a huge plume of black smoke.

The crash scattered debris across the airport grounds as well as on a strip mall and a nearby highway, which was closed for hours, Johnson said.

Fire and rescue vehicles were already at the show in case of an emergency and responded immediately, authorities said.

An estimated 5,000 people were in attendance at the event Saturday, a few miles south of downtown Dallas. Air show events planned for yesterday were cancelled.

The FAA said its agents and the National Transportation Safety Board would investigate the incident.

Hank Coates, the chief executive of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF), whose planes were involved in the accident, said the B-17 “normally has a crew of four or five,” while the P-63 is operated by a single pilot.

He said the pilots who operate the planes during such shows are experienced volunteers with “very thorough training” and are often retired military pilots.