‘Died doing what he loved’: tributes pour in for pilots after planes crash at airshow

Tributes have poured in for pilots who were among the six killed when two historic military planes collided in midair during a show in Dallas on Saturday afternoon, with people saying they were heartbroken that the aerialists died while engaging in what they loved.

The union which represents pilots for Dallas-based American Airlines said on Twitter that retirees Len Root and Terry Barker were aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber that crashed with a P-63 Kingcobra fighter during an exhibition involving the two second world war-era aircraft.

“Our hearts go out to their families, friends, and colleagues past and present,” read the statement from the Allied Pilots Association union.

Meanwhile, numerous people identifying themselves as acquaintances of United Airlines pilot Craig Hutain said he was aboard the single-seat Kingcobra.

Authorities as of Sunday morning had not officially identified any of those who were killed during the disaster, which was captured on several videos circulating on social media.

Yet, as is often the case, people who knew the pilots had already gone online to grieve their unexpected deaths despite a lack of official identification.

“Len tragically died doing what he loved: flying a warbird in an airshow,” read one tribute to Root. “To say you will be missed is the world’s biggest understatement, my friend. You are loved, and we are all better for having known you.”

Another recalled Root being as interested in historic race cars as he was in old airplanes. That tribute added that Root was “quiet, yet friendly, no matter how accomplished he was as a commercial pilot”.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Keller, Texas, described Barker as a former city council member there. The mayor, Armin Mizani, also called Barker a “husband, father, [and] Army veteran” who was flying Saturday to honor “the greatest generation,” which is how Americans refer to their compatriots who helped defeat the Axis Powers during the second world war.

“Terry Barker was beloved by many,” Mizai said. “He was a friend and someone whose guidance I often sought. Even after retiring from serving on the City council and flying for American Airlines, his love for community was unmistakable.”

Hutain, for his part, often flew in a re-enactment of the 7 December 1941 invasion of Pearl Harbor titled “Tora Tora Tora,” according to a biography of him available online. In late July, he told the Ohio news station WKEF that pilots like him would “try to create a history lesson, a very entertaining history lesson” whenever they took to the skies for spectators.

“He said he loved any opportunity to show off the planes to whoever wanted to see them since they were a piece of history,” one tribute to Hutain read Sunday.

A number of tributes to Root, Barker and Hutain also said men named Curt Rowe and Kevin Michels were killed in Saturday’s collision.

Rowe spent 30 years with the Ohio chapter of the nonprofit Civil Air Patrol, the agency’s commander, Pete Bowden, said in a Facebook post Sunday.

His most recent position was as the chapter’s maintenance officer.

“I reach to find solace in that when great aviators like Curt perish, they do so doing what they loved,” Bowden’s post added. “Curt touched the lives of thousands of his fellow (patrol) members, especially the cadets who he flew during orientation flights or taught at flight academies and for that, we should be forever grateful.”

Michels’s name matched that of a man seen in a Facebook video showing off a B-17 at a Wings Over Dallas show three years ago. In the clip, Michels says the bomber’s impressive exterior had just been repainted and looked “almost factory fresh”, but he then invites viewers inside, which was the plane’s “real jewel”.

“You had so much passion for your work and for your relationships,” one tribute to Michels read. “It was exciting to feel that love every time your presence was near.”

One tribute which accurately included the names of Root, Barker, Hutain, Rowe and Michels before they were more widely known said Dan Ragan was the sixth dead crewmember. A social media video from a prior Wings Over Dallas show suggested Ragan had served on the B-17 that crashed Saturday back in 1955, when it was part of a Navy squad.

Ragan said he had a brother who was a B-17 pilot, and to be able to fly on the same kind of plane was “beautiful”. “I was in heaven,” Ragan said.

The B-17 and P-63 were participating in the Wings Over Dallas Show when – according to videos – the fighter crashed into the bomber about 1.20pm Saturday.

Both planes quickly fell to the ground and set off a large ball of fire and smoke at the scene of the crash at the Dallas Executive Airport, about 10 miles (16km ) from the city’s downtown. No one on the ground was injured.

The US used the hulking, fourengine B-17 in daylight raids against Germany during the second world war. The bomber that crashed during Wings Over Dallas had five people aboard.

Though US-made, the Kingcobra was mostly used by Soviet forces in the second world war.

Aubrey Anne Young, 37, watched the planes collide while her children were inside the hangar with their father, she told the Associated Press.

“It was really horrific to see,” Young, who uploaded a video of the disaster online, added. “I’m still trying to make sense of it.”

Staged by an organization known as the Commemorative Air Force, Wings Over Dallas offered guests the chance to see more than 40 aircraft flown during the second world war. The show was scheduled for Veterans Day weekend, which began Friday.

A Philadelphia aviation attorney who flew in airshows for 12 years, Arthur Alan Wolk, told the AP that he reviewed Wings Over Dallas video and concluded the P-63 pilot violated the basic rule of formation flying at the time of the deadly crash.

Though Wolk said to the AP that he was not blaming anyone, he added: “He went belly up to the leader. That prevents him from gauging distance and position. The risk of collision is very high when you cannot see who you are supposed to be in formation with and that kind of join up is not permitted.”

Airshows are generally safe and its participants are well-trained. But concern over airshow safety, particularly with older military planes, has been a growing concern for years. In 2011, 11 people were killed in Reno, Nevada, when a P-51 Mustang crashed into spectators.

Then, in 2019, seven people were killed when a bomber crashed in Hartford, Connecticut.At the time, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it had investigated 21 accidents since 1982 involving second world war bombers, leaving 23 dead.

The NTSB is investigating Saturday’s crash alongside the Federal Aviation Administration. Board member Michael Graham said neither of the plane’s involved Saturday had voice or data recorders, making the videos online crucial to determining what happened.