Investigators are looking for explanations into how two warbirds ended up in the same place at the same time at a Dallas air show on Saturday. So far they haven’t had any public insight into how six people died in the midair collision of a B-17 and a P-63 Kingcobra at the Wings Over Dallas Airshow put on by the Commemorative Air Force. The fighter disintegrated on contact with the four-engine bomber, which split into two main pieces and tumbled to the ground in a fireball. There were five crew on the bomber and a single pilot in the P-63.
Both aircraft are registered to the American Airpower Heritage Museum operated by the CAF in Dallas. The Kingcobra is a larger and more powerful version of the P-39 Airacobra. It was used almost exclusively by Russia. The CAF’s was built in 1946 according to published registration data. NTSB member Michael Graham told reporters there will be no speculation on the cause. International Council of Air Shows President John Cudahy said he’s puzzled by the tragedy. “It’s still to early to figure out what happened yesterday. I’ve watched the tape several times and I can’t figure it out and I’ve been doing this for 25 years,” Cudahy told ABC News.
