B-17 "Texas Raiders" destroyed in mid-air collision today...

[Beemerguy53]

I can scarcely believe I'm typing these words...

The restored B-17 "Texas Raiders", one of the flagships of the Commemorative Air Force's fleet, was destroyed today in a mid-air collision with a smaller plane, at an airshow outside of Dallas.

Video shows a smaller airplane striking the B-17 on the left side, just aft of the wings, breaking off the entire tail of the aircraft. Both planes then plummet to the ground.

I'm heartsick over this. I've been inside Texas Raiders several times, and seen her fly at a number of airshows. I'm hoping and praying there were no paying customers on board at the time.

Folks in the warbird community are good people, who work hard to keep history alive...please send your prayers their way, as they surely need them.

Planes Crash Mid-Air During Air Show at Dallas Executive Airport – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

 

[Rustyt1953]

I have watched the video of the mid air collision several times and it has become increasingly harder to watch. Heartbreaking.

Prayers for all the families, loved ones and friends affected by this horrific incident.

 

[Sistema1927]

Other aircraft said to be a P63 King Cobra. As mid-airs go, this one could not have been engineered better to cause total destruction of both aircraft. Prayers for the families of those killed.

 

[LVSteve]

There are a number of different views of this on Youtube. Looks to me like the Kingcobra pilot started his turn too late for some planned maneuver. Situational awareness failure unless there was some issue with the controls on his plane. Very sad.

 

[SMSgt]

There were only 1-2 flyable P-63 in existence.

 

[Rodan]

Wow. That's just awful.

No obvious evasive action taken by either pilot. Looking at the video, it appears the P63 was in a left turn coming from behind the B17, and probably couldn't see the bomber, which would have been under his nose due to the aircraft's orientation. B17 pilot couldn't see the P63 coming from his right rear quarter.

 

[DWalt]

The YouTube Crash Video:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdek9VV0_Zo[/ame]

 

[MDF4]

That is heartbreaking and we probably know the pilots of these aircraft.

 

[Shark Bait]

Here it is from another perspective.

Planes collide mid-air at Dallas air show - YouTube

 

[Doug M.]

Tragic, in so many ways.

 

[arjay]

The first air show I took my wife and daughter too,an F-86 ran out of sky on a 96° day and pancaked just off of the runway.1000s of people went dead silent as the smoke rose up.Terrible thing to witness.

 

[Rudi]

What a disaster! Words don't cover this.

 

[DWalt]

The first air show I took my wife and daughter too,an F-86 ran out of sky on a 96° day and pancaked just off of the runway.1000s of people went dead silent as the smoke rose up.Terrible thing to witness.

We were at the 1966 Canadian International Air Show in Toronto when a Blue Angels F-11 crashed into Lake Ontario and killed the pilot. As I remember he was flying too low above the water and hit something in the lake. I don’t remember what, but we saw the crash happen. At first we thought is was something to do with the display. It took a few seconds for what happened to soak in.

 

[Walter Rego]

Wow, that is difficult to watch and thoughts and prayers go out to the families of anyone who was killed.

I took a ride on the Collings Foundation B-17 named Nine-O-Nine back in 2003. That's the same plane that crashed in 2019 killing 7 people and injuring 6. When I was aboard that plane the reality that it was already 60 years old and not designed for decades of service like a commercial airliner would be never left my mind.

Even with expert pilots accidents happen, man made or otherwise. A sad day today.

 

[Tom S.]

That is nothing short of tragic.

 

[Jinglebob]

I wish I could un-see that. My condolences to the families, who were possibly there watching in real time.

 

[woodsltc]

I have no words.........prayers for those killed and their families and loved ones.

Don

 

[Puller]

In the longer videos that lead up to the impact you can see the P-63 is following a couple of other single seat aircraft, may P-51s. It appears that the P-63 pilot was following the other two in a left hand bank and the B-17 was in the blind spot under his aircraft and out of view. I doubt the P-63 pilot saw the impending impact with the B-17.

Very tragic, the CAF pilots are all very, very good.

 

[Rustyt1953]

I wish I could un-see that. My condolences to the families, who were possibly there watching in real time.

I won't watch that video again. It is reported that 5 people were onboard the B-17 and one piloting the P-63.

The mental images of the stark terror that must have gripped them when they realized that they were going down is something I don't need to dwell on.

Again, I pray for their suffering families.

 

[BB57]

I’m assuming this was all on the waiver for the air show. At a minimum the fly byes should have been better choreographed and coordinated relative to speed, track and altitudes to better deconflict the aircraft and avoid the potential for a mid air. I see greater regulation and over sight coming out of this.

—-

Even then, it should not have happened. In formation flying, and in air racing in particular, you don’t set up a rejoin or a pass in a manner where you lose sight of the other aircraft.

For example in air racing the over taking aircraft must pass high and on the outside of the slower aircraft. Passing on the outside ensures the faster aircraft always has the slower aircraft in sight. Staying high ensures the aircraft being passed can a) see the over taking aircraft above his wing, and b) could roll out of the turn and slide to the outside in the turn going under the over taking aircraft rather than hitting the over taking aircraft.

Similarly in formation flying you don’t set yourself up for a rejoin or over take with your belly to the other plane. You have a contract to keep the other aircraft in sight, and if you are over shooting to go under the slower aircraft and then come back in from outside the aircraft - the requirement being to *never* lose sight of the aircraft.

The P-63 pilot was experienced enough to know that. I don’t know what the P-63 pilot was doing, but it sure wasn’t that. The obvious question will be “why not?. The possibilities will include a medical issue, G related or otherwise, or a mechanical/control related issue.

——

As part of an air show fly by there should not have been passengers on board the B-17 and based on the casualty estimate of 5 or 6 there probably were not. If there was it’ll be another nail in the coffin, perhaps the last one, for living history flights.

As it is there might be questions raised about the need for 4-5 crew members on a B-17 for a local flight at an air show when a pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer would be sufficient, with the FE scanning for traffic from the top turret. There may be valid reasons for more crew, but they will probably have to state them fairly convincingly.

——

Edit: I saw another video of the accident that showed a pair of Mustangs turning well inside the B-17. I suspect the P-63 pilot was formatting on them, got way too wide in the turn and was “pad locked” on the P-51s and not looking for the B-17 at all.

If that’s the case, it’s probable that the lead P-51 pilot tightened the turn to maintain separation from the B-17 and the P-63 missed it and failed to stay in formation. I’m not sure how the air show was briefed but pulling up and clear of other aircraft would be a likely action in the case of loss of contact or loss of your position in a formation.

That may not have been the case, or the P-63 pilot may have been guilty of gross negligence after apparently losing his situational awareness.