Tragedy at Texas Air Show: WWII Bomber Collides with Fighter in Midair, Fireballs on Impact
Tragedy has struck at a Texas airshow, with two antique aircraft colliding in midair.
A World War II-era P-63 Kingcobra fighter struck a Boeing B-17 bomber during the air show in Dallas on Saturday, according to KXAS-TV.
Cellphone video of the catastrophic crash reveals the fighter approaching the bomber from above, possibly out of the bomber pilot’s line of sight.
Both planes plummeted to the ground in pieces after the collision and exploded on impact.
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress involved in a midair collision with another aircraft at an Airshow in Dallas. No information has been released on the status of the pilots, or whether any injuries were reported from falling debris. https://t.co/I0iScIWxmd pic.twitter.com/XBnR9ofL6U
— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) November 12, 2022
Observers reacted to the crash with shock.
“I honestly can’t believe that we witnessed that,” spectator Morgan Curry said.
Air collision involving a B-17 bomber and smaller plane at Dallas airshow pic.twitter.com/P8YSa9fkcY
— Ryan (@breakingryan1) November 12, 2022
and another pic.twitter.com/CUiNjih9SK
— Jessica O’Donnell 🏈 (@heckyessica) November 12, 2022
Information regarding casualties hadn’t been released an hour after the crash.
One Texas photographer indicated on Twitter that the crews of both aircraft were killed in the collision.
Heartbroken. The lives of several aviators and two pieces of aviation history have been lost in the skies over Dallas today. The P-63 King Cobra collided with the B-17 Flying Fortress during the Wings Over Dallas airshow, destroying both planes. Neither aircrew survived. pic.twitter.com/l6Dyhes3hw
— Nathan Moeller 🇺🇸 (@TheAstroN8) November 12, 2022
The Federal Aviation Authority and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the circumstances of the crash, according to KXAS.
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