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Veterans Day ended in tragedy in Dallas, Texas. On Saturday, six people were killed when two World War II planes collided in mid-air during an air show.
The accident was registered in the Dallas Executive Airport during the show called Wings over Dallas and involved a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra smaller.
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Videos recorded by witnesses They showed footage of the smaller plane descending toward the lower-flying B-17 and crashing into it as the two circled around the airport.
Terrible situation. Two planes collide during an Air Show at Dallas Executive Airport ???????????? pic.twitter.com/thokohgJzw
—Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) November 12, 2022
Wings Over Dallas was advertised as “the main air show in the United States since World War II”, according to a website describing the event. The show was scheduled for November 11-13, the weekend of Veterans Day, and the guests could see more than 40 planes from the time of the Second World Warreported Univision.
Some 5,000 people were present at the time the tragedy occurred. No bystanders were affected by the accident.
After the crash, the authorities canceled the air shows scheduled for Sunday.
The planes were owned by Commemorative Air Force (CAF)the company that organized the air show.
This is what is known about the accident:
collision and fireball
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States said the accident occurred around 1:20 p.m. Saturday.
After the collision, the planes broke into several large pieces before hitting the ground and exploding in a fireball, creating a huge column of black smoke.
More than 40 fire rescue units responded to the emergency almost immediately.
The collision scattered debris across the airport grounds, as well as a shopping center and a nearby highway, which was closed for hours.
The pilots
The Allied Pilots Association (APA) identified two retired pilots and former union members among those killed in the collision. Is about Terry Barker and Len Root, who were part of the crew of the B-17 Flying Fortress during the air show.
Authorities have not publicly identified which of the victims was piloting the aircraft.
The planes involved
The B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined bomber that played an important role in the victory against Germany in the Second World War (1939-45), becoming one of the most produced bombers in history, according to the AFP agency.
The CAF said the crashed B-17 was one of five still-flyable bombers out of 12,731 originally built.
The P-63 Kingcobra was a fighter aircraft developed during Second World War by the American company Bell Aircraft, but it was only used in combat by the Soviet Air Force.
Some 14 machines are known to survive, with four airworthy in the United States, including one owned by the commemorative air forceindicated the CNN network.
Hank Coates, head of the CAF, stated at a press conference that the B-17 normally operates with four or five crew members, while the P-63 It only has one pilot.
The investigations
According to the AP agency, one of the key questions for investigators is why the planes apparently shared the same space just before impact.
“One of the things we’d probably be trying to figure out is why those planes were at the same height in the same airspace at the same time.”Michael Graham, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said at a news conference.
Graham confirmed that five people were on the bomber. B-17 Flying Fortress and that a pilot was the only person on the fighter plane P-63 Kingcobra.
Source: Elcomercio
I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.
