‘Everybody was in shock’: 2 planes collide, crash at Veterans Day air show in Dallas

Onlookers horrified, 5 or 6 crew members estimated killed as historic World War II aircraft plunge to the ground and explode; US authorities launch investigation

By LM OTERO and JILL BLEED 13 November 2022, 2:31 am Edit
  • A historic US military plane crashes after colliding with another plane during an airshow at Dallas Executive Airport in Dallas on November 12, 2022. (Nathaniel Ross Photography via AP)
    A historic US military plane crashes after colliding with another plane during an airshow at Dallas Executive Airport in Dallas on November 12, 2022. (Nathaniel Ross Photography via AP)
  • File: The historic US military B-17 aircraft named "Texas Raiders" flies over Barksdale A.F.B., Louisiana, on May 8, 2021. On November 12, 2022, the plane collided with another during the Commemorative Air Force Wings Over Dallas air show. (AP Photo/Dr. Scott M. Lieberman)
    File: The historic US military B-17 aircraft named "Texas Raiders" flies over Barksdale A.F.B., Louisiana, on May 8, 2021. On November 12, 2022, the plane collided with another during the Commemorative Air Force Wings Over Dallas air show. (AP Photo/Dr. Scott M. Lieberman)
  • An emergency vehicle near debris from two US military planes that crashed during an airshow at Dallas Executive Airport, November 12, 2022. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
    An emergency vehicle near debris from two US military planes that crashed during an airshow at Dallas Executive Airport, November 12, 2022. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
  • Emergency responders on the flightline at the Dallas Executive Airport where two vintage US aircraft crashed during an airshow, November 12, 2022. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
    Emergency responders on the flightline at the Dallas Executive Airport where two vintage US aircraft crashed during an airshow, November 12, 2022. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

DALLAS (AP) — Two historic US military planes collided and crashed to the ground Saturday during an air show in Dallas, exploding into a ball of flames and sending plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky. It was not clear how many people were on board the planes.

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 the 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.

Anthony Montoya saw the two planes collide.

“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 would 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, 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. 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 videos are heartbreaking,” Johnson said on Twitter.

The planes collided and crashed around 1:20 p.m. local time, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement. The collision occurred during the Commemorative Air Force Wings Over Dallas show.

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 pulverized,” 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.

The B-17, an immense four-engine bomber, was a cornerstone of US air power during World War II and is one of the most celebrated warplanes in US history. The Kingcobra, a US fighter plane, was used mostly by Soviet forces during the war. Most B-17s were scrapped at the end of World War II and only a handful remain today, largely featured at museums and air shows, according to Boeing.

Several videos posted on social media showed the fighter plane appearing to fly into the bomber, causing them to quickly crash to the ground and setting off a large ball of fire and smoke.

“It was really horrific to see,” said Aubrey Anne Young, 37, of Leander, Texas, who saw the crash. Her children were inside the hangar with their father when it occurred. “I’m still trying to make sense of it.”

A woman next to Young can be heard crying and screaming on a video that Young uploaded to her Facebook page.

Air show safety in the United States — particularly with older military aircraft — has been a concern for years. In 2011, 11 people were killed in Reno, Nevada, when a P-51 Mustang crashed into spectators. In 2019, a bomber crashed in Hartford, Connecticut, killing seven people. The NTSB said then that it had investigated 21 accidents since 1982 involving World War II-era bombers, resulting in 23 deaths.

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 11-13, Veterans Day weekend, and guests were to see more than 40 World War II-era aircraft. Its Saturday afternoon schedule of flying demonstrations included the “bomber parade” and “fighter escorts” that featured the B-17 and P-63.

The FAA was also launching an investigation, officials said.

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