Mid-Air Collision at Dallas Airshow

                       BREAKING NEWS 

This is absolutely horrific, and my thoughts and prayers go out to the immediate families and friends and the US Airforce. 

Two historic military planes have collided and crashed to the ground during an air show in Dallas, exploding into a ball of flames and sending plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky. 

The Commemorative Air Force said six people were on board the planes at the time of the crash, according to a CBS News report.

Emergency crews raced to the crash scene at the Dallas-Redbird Airport, TX (RBD/KRBD) about 16 kilometres from the city’s downtown. News footage from the scene showed crumpled wreckage of the planes in a grassy area, apparently inside the airport perimeter. Dallas Fire-Rescue told The Dallas Morning News that there were no reported injuries among people on the ground.

“I just stood there. I was in complete shock and disbelief,” said a witness who attended the air show with a friend. “Everybody around was gasping. Everybody was bursting into tears. Everybody was in shock.”

Officials could not say how many people were on board the planes, but Hank Coates, president of the company that put on the airshow, said one of the planes, a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, has a crew of four to five people. The other, a P-63 Kingcobra fighter plane, has a single pilot.

No paying customers were on the aircraft, said Coates, of Commemorative Air Force, which also owned the planes. Their aircraft are flown by highly trained volunteers, often retired pilots, he said.

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said the National Transportation Safety Board had taken control of the crash scene with local police and fire providing support.

The planes collided and crashed around 1.20pm, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

Victoria Yeager, the widow of famed Air Force test pilot Chuck Yeager and herself a pilot, was also at the show. She didn’t see the collision but did see the burning wreckage.

“It was pulverised,” said Yeager, 64, who lives in Fort Worth.

“We were just hoping they had all gotten out, but we knew they didn’t,” she said of those on board.

Wings Over Dallas bills itself as “America’s Premier World War II Airshow,” according to a website advertising the event. The show was scheduled for November 11th-13th, Veterans Day weekend, and guests were to see more than 40 World War II-era aircrafts. Its Saturday afternoon schedule included flying demonstrations including a “bomber parade” and “fighter escorts” featured the B-17 and P-63.

Aircraft Information No 1

Airline: American Airpower Heritage Flying Museum

Aircraft: Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress

Registration: N7227C

Serial Number: 77235

Engines: 4 x Wright R-1820 

Built: 1944

Aircraft Information No 2

Airline: American Airpower Heritage Flying Museum

Aircraft: Bell P-63F-1-BE Kingcobra

Registration: N6763

Serial Number: 296E1-1R

Engines: Allison V1710

Built: 1946