Two vintage World War II planes collided during the Wings Over Dallas Airshow, turning what was supposed to be a fun Veterans Day celebration in Dallas, Texas, into tragedy. Both a Bell P-63 Kingcobra single-engine plane and a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber crashed on impact.
The tragedy shocked spectators who were taking video at the time of the incident. The number of fatalities or injuries has not been confirmed, but an official stated that the B-17 seats four to five passengers and has a single pilot.
A spectator named Anthony Montoya said, “I just stood there. I was in complete shock and disbelief,” said Montoya to the Associated Press. “Everybody around was gasping. Everybody was bursting into tears. Everybody was in shock.”
It all happened in three seconds
When the two World War II planes collided, the P-63 disintegrated instantly, while the B-17 was cut in half and plummeted to the ground, turning into a massive fireball.
The plane was flying too low for the crew to have enough time or altitude to bail out. Aside from the pilot of the P-63, it was believed that five or six people were aboard the B-17 when it exploded, including crew from the CAF’s Gulf Coast Wing.
The incident is still under investigation.
B-17 Flying Fortress “Texas Raiders”
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is one of the most iconic American military aircraft, serving not only as a strategic bomber but also as a transport and even as a remote-control kamikaze drone in both the Pacific and European theaters.
The gun turret mounted under the aircraft’s chin distinguishes the final (and most numerous) G model. According to the CAF, the Texas Raiders are one of only five B-17Gs in flying condition, with six more in airworthy condition.
Bell P-63 Kingcobra
The P-63 Kingcobra is a significantly improved version of the sleek but flawed P-39 Aerocobra fighter, which was widely exported to Russia via Lend Lease and used by the United States. The P-39 earned a bad reputation with the USAAF due to its non-turbocharged engine’s poor high-altitude performance. As a result, the significantly improved P-63 drew little interest from the United States military, serving only as red-painted target practice aircraft.
However, the Soviet Union’s air force, which was a big fan of the Kingcobra, accepted about 2,400 P-63s for combat use. One of four P-63s known to be in flyable condition was lost in Dallas. In 2017, the CAF’s Georgia-based ‘Dixie Wing’ restored a P-63A-6 to flying condition.
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