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New Delhi: Two World War II era military aircraft — B-17 Flying Fortress bomber and P-63 Kingcobra fighter plane — collided and crashed during an air show in Dallas in United States exploding into a ball of flames and emitting black smoke, reported news agency Associated Press .
While the number of people on board was not ascertained, 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, as per the AP report.
No paying customers were on the aircraft, said Coates, of the Commemorative Air Force, which also owned the planes. Their aircraft are flown by highly trained volunteers, often retired pilots, he added.
#BREAKING: New angle of the mid-air collision obtained by @WFAA shows B-17 and other aircraft flying formations at #WingsOverDallas at 1:21p today, when it was hit by a P-63 and fell to the ground over the airfield at Dallas Executive Airport (RBD). pic.twitter.com/6NAS93b3re
— Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) November 12, 2022
The report stated that a team from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) would arrive at the crash site on Sunday and added that Dallas Mayor, Eric Johnson said that the NTSB has taken control of the crash scene with local police and fire providing support.
The planes collided and crashed around 1:20 pm, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The collision occurred during the Commemorative Air Force Wings Over Dallas show.
The B-17, a cornerstone of US air power during World War II, is an immense four-engine bomber used in daylight raids against Germany. 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.
People who witnessed the crash said that the planes were “pulverised”.
“I just stood there. I was in complete shock and disbelief. Everybody around was gasping. Everybody was bursting into tears. Everybody was in shock,” said another witness.
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