Six dead following plane collision at Wings over Dallas air show | USA TODAY

The NTSB is working to identify victims of the "horrible tragedy" after two vintage planes collided at the Wings over Dallas air show.

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The explosive crash of two vintage World War II planes over a Dallas air show left six people dead and a debris field stretched across an airport, nearby highway and strip mall, authorities said Sunday. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said the National Transportation Safety Board was leading the investigation into the cause of the "horrible tragedy" Saturday at the Wings over Dallas air show.

The planes, a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber and P-63 Kingcobra fighter plan, collided at around 1:20 pm. above Dallas Executive Airport, less than 10 miles from downtown. The show had drawn more than 4,000 spectators. Mayor Eric Johnson said said no injuries to people on the ground were reported.

"We have had a terrible tragedy in our city," Johnson said. "The videos are heartbreaking. Please, say a prayer for the souls who took to the sky to entertain and educate our families."

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14 comments

    1. It’s my understanding that the big plane was not supposed to be there. There were several other smaller planes out of frame doing the same thing that small plane was doing so I believe it was the big plane that wasn’t in the right spot. I’m assuming we will learn more soon.

  1. This is the second loss of a B-17 over a populated area in 3 years. It brings into question as to whether it is wise to continue operating the remaining 8 that are still airworthy. It is also worth noting that the P-63 was never accepted by the U.S. military because of the difficult flight characteristics it had. The B-17 that crashed in Oct. 2019 at Hartford was attributed to pilot error. The pilot was aged 75 and the co-pilot 71. That aircraft is also difficult to fly and required a well trained flight crew to handle it. I had flown as a passenger on the B-17 that crashed in Hartford several year previous to the crash. It gave me a great appreciation for the skill required to fly one. When I went up it was known at the Nine-0-Nine on one side and Memphis Belle on the other. The pilots, also were considerably younger. It has been reported that the B-17 was being flown by retired airline pilots at the time. There are several reasons that the airlines have a mandatory retirement age of 65. Time to keep these aircraft on the ground or you won’t have them anymore.

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