Two historic military planes collided and crashed to the ground in a ball of flames during a Dallas air show, leaving six people dead, officials said.
National transportation officials were investigating the cause of Saturday’s collision, which came three years after the crash of a World War II-era bomber in Connecticut that killed seven, and amid ongoing concern about the safety of air shows involving older warplanes.
Emergency crews raced to the crash scene at the Dallas Executive Airport, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the city’s downtown. News footage from the scene showed crumpled wreckage of the planes in a grassy area inside the airport perimeter.
The in-air collision during the Wings over Dallas air show claimed six lives, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins tweeted Sunday, citing the county medical examiner. Authorities are continuing to work to identify the victims, he said. It was not clear if there were any injuries or fatalities on the ground. Dallas Fire-Rescue told The Dallas Morning News there were no reports of injuries there.
I just stood there. I was in complete shock and disbelief,” said Montoya, 27, who attended the air show with a friend. “Everybody around was gasping. Everybody was bursting into tears. Everybody was in shock.”
Officials did not specify how many people were inside each plane, but Hank Coates, president of the company that put on the air show, said one of the planes, a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, typically 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. The aircraft are flown by highly trained volunteers, often retired pilots, he said.
The National Transportation Safety Board took control of the crash scene, with local police and fire providing support, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said. The Federal Aviation Administration also was going to investigate, officials said.