- Two ancient military planes collide in the skies over Dallas.
- Social media video records capture the incident as it happens.
- Both the FAA and the NTSB launched investigations.
Two historic military Planes collided in flight and plummeted to the ground before taking fire on Saturday at a World War II remembrance airshow in Dallas, according to federal officials.
It was unclear how many people were injured or killed straight away.
According to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress from WWII and the Bell P-63 Kingcobra fighter were flying at the Wings Over Dallas Airshow at Dallas Executive Airport when the incident occurred (FAA).
The event was reported on Twitter by airport personnel, but the number of people on board the two planes was not immediately known, according to the FAA. First responders made a hasty trip to the scene of the accident.
Hank Coates, president and CEO of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF), a group that works to keep World War II combat aircraft flying, says that the B-17 usually has a crew of four to five people.
Coates indicated that the P-63 has only one pilot, but he refused to reveal how many passengers were on board at the time of the incident, their names, or their conditions.
Social media users live-streamed the catastrophe, showing the two planes colliding and plummeting on the ground before bursting into flames. The scene of the incident, which was an area of browned grass covered in airplane debris, was seen on live aerial imagery.
According to officials, the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) launched investigations, with the NTSB taking the lead and providing updates.
