Six dead in mid-air collision at Texas WWII show
Six people were killed when a pair of World-War-II-era planes collided in mid-air at a show in Texas and crashed to the ground in a ball of fire, authorities said.
"According to our Dallas County Medical Examiner, there are a total of 6 fatalities from the Wings over Dallas airshow incident," Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said.
The incident at Dallas Executive Airport involved a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a smaller Bell P-63 Kingcobra, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson called the incident "a terrible tragedy," adding that videos of the incident "are heartbreaking."
Videos showed dramatic scenes of the smaller plane descending toward the lower-flying B-17 and crashing into it as both flew in loops around the airport.
After the collision, the planes appeared to break apart into several large pieces before crashing to the ground and exploding in a ball of fire, creating a huge plume of black smoke.
Fire and rescue vehicles were already at the show in case of an emergency and responded immediately, authorities said.
An estimated 5,000 people were in attendance at the event, a few miles south of downtown Dallas. Air show events planned for were cancelled.
The Allied Pilots Association, the collective bargaining agent for American Airlines, confirmed earlier that two of its retired members died in the accident.
