Video: Two Planes Crash at Dallas Air Show

DALLAS — Two historic military planes collided and crashed to the ground on Saturday. dallas air showsaid a federal official, sending a plume of black smoke into the sky.

A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra collided and crashed at about 1:20 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement. The collision occurred during the Memorial Air Force Wings Show over Dallas.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins Confirmed on Sunday Six people died in the crash.

“Authorities will continue to work on the investigation and identification of the deceased today,” he said on social media. “Please pray for their families and everyone involved.”

Memorial Air Force spokesperson Leah Bullock said: told ABC News She believes there were five crew members on the B-17 and one on the P-63. The Houston-based aircraft was not offering rides to paying customers at the time, she said.

The B-17 was a massive four-engine bomber that was the backbone of the United States Air Force during World War II. A US fighter, the King Cobra was used primarily by the Soviet military during the war. According to Boeing, most B-17s were scrapped at the end of World War II, with only a handful remaining today, mostly displayed in museums and air shows.

Sources told WFAA’s Jason Whiteley that debris from the crash fell onto Highway 67 heading south. The southbound and northbound lanes of the highway. 67 closed due to crashes, According to Dallas Police.

Several Video posted on Twitter The two aircraft appeared to collide mid-air before descending rapidly, showing massive fires and plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky.

The National Transportation Safety Board said in a tweet that it was launching a team to investigate the crash, which is expected to arrive on Sunday.

Marbella Garcia, who worked on the show as a Chevrolet brand ambassador, said she was speaking to someone investigating when the crash happened and the person she was talking to said, “Wow, look at that explosion.” said.

“I looked and said, ‘Oh, that’s part of the show,'” Garcia said.

Garcia said she quickly realized it wasn’t part of the show. I got

“Some people just thought it was a reenactment,” Garcia said of the crowd’s reaction to the crash. Is it happening or is it just a reenactment?”

Air show safety, especially for older military aircraft, has been a concern for years. In 2011, his P-51 Mustang crashed into a crowd in Reno, Nevada, killing 11 people. 2019, A bomber plane crashes in Windsor Rocks, Connecticut, killing seven people. The NTSB said it had investigated 21 of his accidents since 1982 that involved World War II-era bombers and resulted in 23 fatalities.

Wings Over Dallas bills itself as “America’s World War II air show,” according to the website promoting the event. By appointment, guests were to see more than 40 World War II-era aircraft.

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson tweeted the following statement on Saturday.

“As many of you have seen, a terrible tragedy occurred in our city today during an air show. Many details remain unknown or unconfirmed at this time. @NTSB took command of the crash site @Dallas PD When @DallasFireRes_q continue to provide support. ”

Former Republican congressman Jason Villalba, chairman of the Texas-Hispanic Policy Foundation, said he attended today’s air show.

“We left at 12:00, but George and I were going to get on the B-17,” Villalba told WFAA.

The FAA issued the following statement to WFAA:

A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra collided and crashed at approximately 1:20 p.m. local time on Saturday at the Wings Over Dallas Air Show in Dallas Executive Airport, Texas. It is unknown at this time how many people were on board both aircraft. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB is investigating and will provide additional updates.

Memorial Air Force/Wing of Dallas sent the following statement to WFAA:

“Two aircraft were involved in a mid-air collision at Dallas Executive Airport this afternoon. The aircraft were a B-17 and a P-63 Kingcobra, both out of Houston. No information as emergency responders are dealing with the accident.Commemorative Air Force is working with local governments and the FAA, and the NTSB will conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident.Available information posted to all will be www.commemorativeairforce.org“

This is a developing story. Please check the latest information. The Associated Press contributed to this story.