Dallas Airshow Tragedy

[XBe02Drvr]

So sad. Condolences to those connected to those lost and to those traumatized by the sight of this tragedy. You can prevent some accidents with a little effort, you can prevent most accidents with a great effort, but you can't prevent all accidents, no matter how much effort you dedicate to it. Living history doesn't come free.

 

[N4521U]

I knew Doug Lacey, did some art on his PV-2 at the Hamilton air show too many years ago.
I hear of these silly pilot errors and think back to the 7 on board his plane when it needlessly
stalled and crashed, 8 onboard, 6 have been retrieved in Clear Lake. Seven families grieving and lives turned upside down.
And lessons never learned.

Update in bold type.

 

[at6]

Extremely sad and tragic loss. My condolences to families and friends.

 

[Marcel]

Just saw this. I'm at a loss of words.

 

[cvairwerks]

Found out unofficially who was flying the P-63. Very high time guy, lots of fighter experience and lots of airshow flying time, including lots of head on interweaving show work. I know him from another board and it's a rough loss.

 

[Engineman]

Very sad to see and condolences to all involved.
Of course, warbird/display flying has inherent risk, much like motorsport, and that should be recognised if you are going to participate.
I am certain that the investigation will make a good job of the findings. However, without pre-judging anything, the various video's show the basics of what happened.
For those who have not flown in that environment, here are a few points that might help understanding.
It looks like there were a few single-engined fighters and the B17 running in for a low pass over the field at around 200 feet agl and at fairly high speed. The B17 looks to have been flying fairly straight and level, the P63 appears to be in a left turn with bank and faster than the B17. As the two aircraft did collide, there would very little relative movement in the sightline between the P63 and the B17 and that lowers the likelihood of sighting the other aircraft. Additionally, the P63 seems to be manoeuvreing very close to the airfield, possibly working hard to position for compliance with the display restrictions of height, display line and crowd line. Whatever, a fast low-level turn leaves a large area under the nose of the aircraft unsighted, especially in a low-wing fighter. So, it looks likely that the B17 was not visible to the P63 pilot in that turn, right up to almost impact.

Eng

 

[DBII]

I live about 10 minutes from Texas Raider's hanger. I have been taking photos of her for around 50 years. I fell like I have lost a close friend. I will be posting old photos of both warbirds as soon as I can.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Craig Hutain was flying the P-63. I'm not sure who the crew of the B-17 was.

 

[Greg Boeser]

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Craig Hutain was flying the P-63. I'm not sure who the crew of the B-17 was.

View attachment 694283

He flew 777s RIP

 

[Greg Boeser]

CNN has identified three crew on B-17.

6 dead after a pair of vintage military aircraft collided at a Texas air show | CNN

A National Transportation Safety Board team is expected to begin investigating Saturday's fatal collision at the Wings Over Dallas airshow when its team arrives at the crash scene later today.

www.cnn.com

 

[Mainly28s]

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

 

[BlackSheep]

My condolences to all who knew those involved.

Edit: Keep an open mind on the video, should you watch, it's just the guy's opinion and I didn't post it making any claims other than it is an additional resource to watch.

I've been watching an early speculative analysis as to what went wrong posted as a response to some of the usual bullshit being posted by those who know nothing of the subject/situation and are reacting purely out of emotion.

One thing, I haven't seen mentioned starts at about the 9'50" mark of this video showing an angle of the disaster from what I believe is the grandstand. As the nose/wings of the B-17 comes down, it barely, just barely misses what looks like a bi-plane taxing along the runway… talk about a close call. I wonder if the occupants had a go-pro going from what looks like tens of yards from the crash?

 

[Lucky13]

 

[nuuumannn]

Gobsmacked by this. Horrified to watch the footage posted online and elsewhere. This will have big ramifications.

 

[mjfur]

Debris field and Stearman line of travel.

 

[CJ7nvrstk]

Sadly there was a crash yesterday involving a B17 and a P63. Both aircraft and 6 people were lost. Prayers for the families and warbird community.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

I've been watching an early speculative analysis as to what went wrong posted as a response to some of the usual bullshit being posted by those who know nothing of the subject/situation and are reacting purely out of emotion.

Agree -

This guy does give praise to the NTSB and the FAA in investigating this crash as should be. 2 things I heard in the clip that bothers me.

This guy does state he's a private pilot and then says something to the effect that he flies simulators and makes comments based on that. 50% credibility deduction. He goes on to make a statement about during the parade of fighters its a time when the fighters do rolls or other aerobatic maneuvers. I've participated in airshows and admit that while I don't have a formation card, as far as I know there are strict guidelines on doing low level aerobatics especially when in flight with dissimilar aircraft. Maybe our jimh can ad to this. Now he is in Australia, so I'll be interested to hear from our friends down under.

But this tells me his airshow experience is from a spectator's view.

Aside from that he put together good clips and the interview with the head of the CAF.

Again, having lost several people very near and dear to me while flying warbirds, my heart goes out to the families...

 

[GrauGeist]

I am curious, though, about the Stearman.

If the formation was lining up to do a pass, who cleared the Stearman?

Shouldn't he have been held back until the flight cleared the boundry?