2022 Dallas air show mid-air collision
The destruction of the two aircraft immediately after colliding; the forward section of Texas Raiders is visible at center-left, while the tail can be seen just below it, behind the vehicles in the foreground. | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | November 12, 2022, 1:22 p.m. CST (UTC-6) |
| Summary | Mid-air collision |
| Site | Dallas Executive Airport (RBD), Dallas, Texas 32°40′25″N 96°51′45″W / 32.67361°N 96.86250°W |
| Total fatalities | 6 |
| Total survivors | 0 |
| First aircraft | |
| N7227C, the B-17G involved in the accident, in October 2019 | |
| Type | Boeing B-17G-95-DL/PB-1W Flying Fortress |
| Name | Texas Raiders |
| Operator | American Airpower Heritage Flying Museum |
| Registration | N7227C 44-83872 (s/n) 77235 (BuNo) |
| Flight origin | Dallas Executive Airport, Dallas, Texas |
| Occupants | 5 |
| Crew | 5 |
| Fatalities | 5 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Second aircraft | |
| N6763, the Bell P-63F involved in the accident, in October 2019 | |
| Type | Bell P-63F-1-BE Kingcobra |
| Operator | American Airpower Heritage Flying Museum |
| Registration | N6763 43-11719 (s/n) |
| Flight origin | Dallas Executive Airport, Dallas, Texas |
| Occupants | 1 |
| Crew | 1 |
| Fatalities | 1 |
| Survivors | 0 |
On November 12, 2022, two World War II–era aircraft, a B-17 Flying Fortress and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra, collided mid-air and crashed during the Wings Over Dallas air show at Dallas Executive Airport in Dallas, Texas, United States. The air show, which coincided with Veterans Day commemorations, was organized by the Commemorative Air Force.
Just before the crash, the air boss directed the bomber formation to fly parallel to the spectator viewing line, while the fighters were instructed to enter a trail formation and fly in front of the bombers. According to witnesses, the P-63F executed a high-speed descending banked turn onto the runway approach, colliding with the B-17 and causing both planes to break apart and burst into flames.
The B-17 had a crew of five, while the P-63 had a single occupant. All six died as confirmed by the Dallas County Medical Examiner. Both aircraft were destroyed on impact. The NTSB's preliminary report, released on November 30, highlighted the absence of altitude deconfliction briefings and revealing that the P-63's GPS navigator failed to record any information during the flight, with the ATC audio released on January 12, 2023, confirming no altitude advice was provided.
The NTSB's final report on the accident in December 2024 concluded that the probable cause of the accident was the air boss's and air show event organizer's inadequate prebriefing, relying solely on the air boss's real-time deconfliction directives and the see-and-avoid strategy for collision avoidance, which allowed for the loss of separation between the two aircraft, and that a contributing cause was a lack of FAA guidance and oversight of air bosses at air shows.