Watch 2 vintage military aircrafts crash into each other mid-air during air parade in US (VIDEO)

 

Monday, November 14, 2022 – Two US vintage aircrafts collided mid air during an air parade on Saturday, November 12.

In the graphic footage, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra could be seen as they collided over Dallas airshow around 1:20 p.m. on Saturday, November 12.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, authorities responded to the incident at Dallas Executive Airport, Jason Evans with Dallas Fire-Rescue.

The number of casualties in the crash was still not confirmed, according to Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson.

However, the Allied Pilots Association, the labor union representing American Airlines pilots, identified two pilot retirees and former union members among those killed in the collision.

Former members Terry Barker and Len Root were among the crew members on the B-17 Flying Fortress during the Wings Over Dallas airshow, the APA said in a tweet. The APA is also offering professional counseling services at their headquarters in Fort Worth following the incident.

“Our hearts go out to their families, friends, and colleagues past and present,” their tweet said.

There were more than 40 fire rescue units on scene after the collision, the agency’s active incidents page shows.

In a Saturday afternoon news conference, Hank Coates, president and CEO of the Commemorative Air Force, told reporters the B-17 “normally has a crew of four to five. That was what was on the aircraft,” while the P-63 is a “single-piloted fighter type aircraft.”

“I can tell you that it was normally crewed,” Coates said. “I cannot release the number of people in the manifest or the names on the manifest until I’m released to do so by the NTSB.”

On Saturday evening, the NTSB said it is launching a go-team to investigate the collision. The team is expected to arrive on Sunday, the NTSB said in a tweet.

“Member Michael Graham will serve as spokesperson on scene,” the tweet added.

“The maneuvers that they [the aircraft] were going through were not dynamic at all,” Coates noted. “It was what we call ‘Bombers on Parade’.”

The B-17 was part of the collection of the Commemorative Air Force, nicknamed “Texas Raiders,” and had been hangered in Conroe, Texas near Houston. It was one of about 45 complete surviving examples of the model, only nine of which were airworthy.

The P-63 was even rarer. Some 14 examples are known to survive, four of which in the United States were airworthy, including one owned by the Commemorative Air Force.

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