A Boeing B-17 bomber and a smaller plane collided mid-air during an air show at Texas’ Dallas Executive Airport, falling to the ground and bursting into flames. According to authorities, the collision killed six people, all of whom were crew members.
“According to our Dallas County Medical Examiner, there are a total of six fatalities from yesterday’s Wings over Dallas airshow incident,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins stated on Twitter on Sunday.
Dramatic images captured by airshow attendees show the larger B-17 bomber flying in a straight line, not very high above the ground, while the smaller plane, a Bell P-63 Kingcobra, hurtles in its direction from the left. The smaller plane collides with the B-17, a World War II-era plane, and the two planes immediately disintegrate, as evidenced by visuals.
Within seconds, the planes are on the ground, engulfed in a ball of fire.
The collision occurred at Dallas Executive Airport during the Wings Over Dallas airshow. The crash involved a single-pilot Bell P-63 Kingcobra colliding with a larger Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, which is being investigated by federal agencies.
The B-17, a four-engined bomber, was critical in winning the air war against Germany during WWII. With a reputation as a workhorse, it became one of the most mass-produced bombers of all time. The P-63 Kingcobra was a fighter aircraft developed by Bell Aircraft during the same war but only used in combat by the Soviet Air Force.
On October 2, 2019, seven people were killed in an accident at an airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, in one of the last major B-17 crashes.