Here’s a comprehensive list of stories, videos and photo galleries that Dallas Morning News staffers have produced since the Nov. 12 midair collision between two planes that killed six people.
This will be updated as more content is produced.
Investigators search for answers in deadly Dallas air show midair collision
The flight plan and pilot briefing before Saturday’s Wings Over Dallas will undergo heavy scrutiny as investigators try to determine the factors behind the midair collision between two WWII-era aircraft that killed six crew members.
The crash Saturday at Dallas Executive Airport was captured in dozens of videos and photos from spectators at the Commemorative Air Force event, showing the Bell P-63 Kingcobra plane crashing into the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber in a fiery explosion that killed all six people aboard.
Flight safety experts say those videos and photos don’t explain exactly what happened. The slower-moving Boeing B-17 may have been in a blind spot for the single pilot P-63 Kingcobra, which was moving at a much higher rate of speed. While mechanical issues, weather and medical records will all be reviewed, the investigation will likely focus on why two planes with experienced pilots were so close.
“The fighter was out of position and I don’t know why,” said Jeff Guzzetti, a former air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration who now consults on aviation safety issues. “There has to be a reason for that. It may have been a blocked view or a mechanical error or medical emergency.”
Flight safety experts said human error was likely a factor in the crash, but it’s unclear from videos whether that error was on behalf of one of the pilots, with someone communicating with planes from the ground or in the preparations for the air show.
1 plane moved to ‘secure location’ as rain delays recovery of B-17 from Dallas crash site
As of Monday morning, the wreckage of the P-63 was recovered and transported to a “secure location” for examination and analysis of the air frame and engines, Michael Graham, National Transportation Safety Board said. He also said the air show common frequency reporting was received by the agency and will be processed by investigative specialists.
Rain delayed further recovery of the B-17 but that process will continue Tuesday as long as weather permits, he said.
Although Graham said Sunday that neither aircraft was equipped with a flight data recorder, an electronic flight display from the B-17 and GPS navigational unit from the P-63 were later retrieved.
“The units from both aircrafts were damaged during the accident,” Graham said. “They’re both being sent to the NTSB’s recorder lab in Washington, D.C. to determine whether data and relevant information can be recovered from both units.”
The units may contain data such as the GPS location, possible altitude, and air speeds of the aircraft.
A look at the 2 vintage planes that crashed at a Dallas air show
Dallas tragedy joins a growing list of fatal crashes involving vintage aircraft
Saturday’s collision between two World War II-era military planes at a Dallas air show was the latest in a long list of crashes involving vintage planes used or designed for military purposes. Some recent fatal crashes in the U.S. and abroad:
— Oct. 2, 2019: A four-engine, propeller-driven B-17G Flying Fortress bomber with 13 people aboard crashed at Bradley International Airport, north of Hartford, Connecticut, during a traveling vintage aircraft show. Seven people were killed and six were hurt.
— Nov. 17, 2018: A privately owned vintage World War II Mustang fighter airport plane crashed into the parking lot of an apartment complex in Fredericksburg, Texas, killing the pilot and a passenger.
— Aug. 4, 2018: A 79-year-old Junkers Ju-52 plane operated by the Swiss company Ju-Air plunged into the Piz Segnas mountain near the Flims ski resort in eastern Switzerland, killing all 20 on board.
— May 30, 2018: A small vintage airplane that was part of a GEICO stunt team with five other planes crashed in a wooded residential area in Melville, New York, killing the pilot.
— July 16, 2017: A pilot and an airport manager were killed in Cummings, Kansas, after their World War II-era P-51D Mustang “Baby Duck” crashed into a field.
— Jan. 26, 2017: A World War II-era Grumman G-73 Mallard flying boat stalled and nosedived into the Swan River in Perth, Australia, during Australia Day celebrations. Both the pilot and his passenger died.
— Aug. 27, 2016: A pilot from Alaska was killed when his 450 Stearman biplane, a World War II-era plane often used for military training, crashed during the Airshow of the Cascades in Madras, Oregon.
— July 17, 2016: A T-28 Trojan, used by the U.S. military as a training aircraft beginning in the 1950s and also as a counterinsurgency aircraft during the Vietnam War, crashed at the Cold Lake Air Show in Alberta, killing the pilot.
— Aug. 22, 2015: A 1950s-era Hawker Hunter T7 jet crashed into a busy highway near West Sussex, England, killing 11 and injuring more than a dozen others.
— June 22, 2013: A pilot and a wing-walker were killed when their World War II-era Boeing-Stearman IB75A biplane crashed into the ground and burst into flames during a performance at the Vectren Dayton Air Show in Vandalia, Ohio.
— Sept. 16, 2011: The pilot of a 70-year-old modified P-51D Mustang called the Galloping Ghost lost control of the aircraft at the National Championship Air Races and Air Show in Reno, Nevada, and crashed into spectators, killing 10 and injuring more than 60. The pilot also died.
What we know about those who died in the Dallas air show crash
Those who died in Saturday’s mid-air collision between two historic aircraft in Dallas had decades of flight experiences and were aviation enthusiasts.
The collision that left six dead involved two World War II-era planes, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra. One pilot was in the P-63 while the five others were in the B-17.
No one on the ground was injured or killed. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
The Commemorative Air Force identified those who died as Terry Barker, Leonard “Len” Root, Curtis “Curt” Rowe, Craig Hutain, Dan Ragan and Kevin “K5″ Michels.
The Commemorative Air Force has been authorized to confirm the names of the B-17 Flying Fortress and P-63 Kingcobra...
Posted by Commemorative Air Force on Monday, November 14, 2022
What we know about the Dallas mid-air collision that killed 6
Here’s a rundown of what we know in the aftermath of Saturday’s air show in Dallas, where six people were killed after two historic aircraft collided mid-air and plummeted to the ground in a fireball, stunning onlookers, first responders and city officials.
- Thousands gathered at air show for historic planes
- Video captured quick crash, stunned onlookers
- First responders had trained for plane crashes
- NTSB member: “We will not jump to any conclusions”
Photos: Crews respond to crash scene during air show at Dallas Executive Airport
Video: Officials give update after Dallas air show plane crash
6 dead in Dallas air show disaster; preliminary crash report expected in four to six weeks
The day following Saturday’s air show, officials announced that the six people inside the planes involved in Saturday’s crashed had died.
At a news conference Sunday afternoon, Michael Graham, a National Transportation Safety Board member, said the federal agency will “methodically and systematically” review all evidence and consider “all potential factors to determine probable cause.”
“This is the beginning of a long process,” Graham said. “We will not jump to any conclusions.”
The preliminary report of the accident can be expected in four to six weeks, Graham said, but the full investigation will last 12 to 18 months before the final report can be released. Thus far, Graham said his agency has started securing audio recordings from the air traffic control tower, surveyed and photographed the scene, and conducted interviews with formation crews and airshow operations.
‘Terrible tragedy in our city’: Planes crash during air show at Dallas Executive Airport
In videos shared on social media, the P-63 was seen colliding into the back of the B-17 as it made a turn. The front of the B-17 broke off, and the plane’s wings erupted into flames as they hit the ground.
An onlooker said “Oh my god!” in Spanish, and a large cloud of black smoke could be seen from a field where dozens of people were standing to watch the show overhead. In another video, a child could be heard asking, “Was that supposed to happen?”
At a news conference, Coates said the organization has more than 180 aircraft. Coates said the people who fly them for shows are volunteers — but not novice pilots, with many being retired military and airline pilots.
“This is not about the aircraft — it’s just not,” Coates said. “The aircraft are great aircraft; they’re safe, they’re very well maintained, the pilots are very well trained.”
