Anthony Montoya said he saw the two planes collide. “I just stood there. I was in complete shock and disbelief,” said Montoya, 27, who watched the air show with a friend. “Everyone around was gasping. Everyone burst into tears. Everyone was shocked.” Emergency crews raced to the crash site at Dallas Executive Airport, about 10 miles from downtown. Live television news footage from the scene showed people setting up orange cones around the crumpled wreckage of the bomber, which lay in a grassy area. A damaged plane sits at Dallas Executive Airport after the incident on Saturday. (Liesbeth Powers/The Dallas Morning News/The Associated Press) “The footage is heartbreaking,” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson tweeted, adding that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) had taken over the scene of the crash, with local police and fire crews providing support. The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra collided and crashed at about 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. The B-17, a massive four-engine bomber, was the cornerstone of US air power during World War II. The Kingcobra, an American fighter plane, was used primarily by Soviet forces during the war. Most B-17s were scrapped at the end of World War II, and only a few remain today, largely on display in museums and air shows, according to Boeing. Multiple videos posted on Twitter showed the fighter jet flying into the bomber, causing it to quickly fall to the ground and set off a large ball of fire and smoke. Emergency responders are seen at Dallas Executive Airport on Saturday. (LM Otero/The Associated Press) “It was really horrible to see,” said Aubrey Anne Young, 37, of Leander, Texas, who witnessed the crash. Her children were inside the shed with their father when it happened. “I’m still trying to make sense of it.” A woman next to Young can be heard crying and screaming hysterically in a video Young posted to her Facebook page. Airshow safety, particularly with older military aircraft, has been a concern for years. In 2011, 11 people were killed in Reno, Nev. — including a couple of Canadians — when a P-51 Mustang crashed into spectators. In 2019, a bomber crashed in Hartford, Conn., killing seven people. The NTSB said at the time that it had investigated 21 accidents since 1982 involving World War II-era bombers, resulting in 23 deaths. As many of you have seen by now, we had a terrible tragedy in our city today during an air show. Many details remain unknown or unconfirmed at this time. THE —@Johnson4Dallas 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 Friday through Sunday, Veterans Day weekend, and visitors were to see more than 40 World War II-era aircraft. Flying displays, including a “bomber parade” and “fighter escort,” with B-17s and P-63s, were on the Saturday afternoon program. Videos of past Wings Over Dallas events depict vintage warplanes flying low, sometimes in close formation, on simulated bombing or strafing flights. The videos also show the planes performing aerobatics. The FAA has also launched an investigation, officials said.
