CNN –
Six people are dead after two World War II-era military planes collided mid-air and crashed at Dallas Executive Airport during an air show Saturday afternoon, killing all on board, the Dallas County Coroner’s Office said Sunday.
“We can confirm there are six (fatalities),” a spokesman for the Dallas County coroner’s office told CNN in a phone call.
More than 40 fire-rescue units responded to the scene after the two vintage planes, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra, crashed during the Wings Over Dallas air show.
Video footage of the crash, which was described by the mayor of Dallas as “heartbreaking,” shows the planes breaking up in midair after the collision, then hitting the ground in a matter of seconds, before bursting into flames.
These are the latest developments as National Transportation Safety Board investigators arrive at the scene on Sunday.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the crash happened around 1:20 p.m. Saturday. The number of victims has not yet been confirmed, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said Saturday.
The Allied Pilots Association, the union representing American Airlines pilots, has identified two retired and former union pilots among those killed in the crash.
Former members Terry Barker and Len Root were crew members of the B-17 Flying Fortress during the air show, the APA said on social media.
“Our hearts go out to their families, friends and colleagues past and present,” the union said. The APA is offering career counseling services at its Fort Worth headquarters following the incident.
The death of Barker, a former Keller, Texas city council member, was also announced by Keller Mayor Armin Mizani in a Facebook post Sunday morning.
“Keller is saddened to learn that Keller’s husband, father, Army veteran and former alderman Terry Barker was one of the victims of the tragic crash at the Dallas Air Show,” Mizani wrote.
“Terry Barker was loved by many. He was a friend and someone I often looked to for guidance. Even after retiring from serving on City Hall and flying for American Airlines, his love for the community was unmistakable “.
At a press conference Saturday, Hank Coates, president and CEO of the Air Force Commemorative, an organization that preserves and maintains vintage military aircraft, told reporters that the B-17 “typically has a crew of four to five . That was what was in the plane,” while the P-63 is a “single-pilot fighter plane.”
“I can tell you it was usually manned,” Coates said. “I cannot release the number of people on the manifest or the names on the manifest until the NTSB gives me permission to do so.”
The Commemorative Air Force identified both aircraft as being based in Houston.
“We currently have no information on the condition of the flight crews as emergency responders are working on the crash,” said a statement from the group, which added that it is working with local authorities and the FAA.
There were no bystanders or others injured on the ground, although the debris field from the collision includes the grounds of Dallas Executive Airport, Interstate 67 and a nearby shopping center.
The B-17 was part of the Air Force Commemorative collection, nicknamed the “Texas Raiders,” and had been stored in a hanger in Conroe, Texas, near Houston.
She was one of about 45 complete surviving examples of the model, only nine were seaworthy.
The P-63 was even rarer. About 14 examples are known to survive, four of which in the United States were airworthy, including one owned by the Commemorative Air Force.
More than 12,000 B-17s were produced by Boeing, Douglas Aircraft, and Lockheed between 1936 and 1945, with nearly 5,000 lost during the war, and most of the remainder scrapped in the early 1960s. About 3,300 P-63s they were produced by Bell Aircraft between 1943 and 1945, and were used primarily by the Soviet Air Force during World War II.
The FAA was leading the investigation into the air show crash Saturday, but it was to be turned over to the NTSB once its team arrived on the scene, Coates said.
Late Saturday, the NTSB said it was sending a team to investigate the collision. The team, made up of technical experts who are regularly dispatched to plane crash sites, is expected to arrive on Sunday, the agency said.
According to Coates, the individuals who fly the aircraft at CAF air shows are volunteers and follow a strict training process. Many of them are airline pilots, retired airline pilots or retired military pilots.
“The maneuvers they (the plane) were going through were not dynamic at all,” Coates noted. “It was what we call ‘Bombers on Parade.’
“It’s not about the plane. It’s just not,” Coates said. “I can tell you that the planes are great planes, they’re safe. They’re very well maintained. The pilots are very well trained. So it’s hard for me to talk about it, because I know all these people, they’re family and they’re good friends.”
Mayor Johnson said in a tweet after the crash: “As many of you have seen by now, we experienced a terrible tragedy in our city today during an air show. Many details remain unknown or unconfirmed at this time “.
“The videos are heartbreaking. Please say a prayer for the souls who ascended to heaven to entertain and educate our families today,” Johnson said in a separate tweet.
The Wings Over Dallas event, which was scheduled to run through Sunday, has been canceled, according to the organizer’s website.