By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday confirmed that two World War II-era aircrafts collided and crashed while performing a flyover at a commemorative event in Texas, US.
The administration in a statement added that it was not immediately clear how many people were aboard the two planes.
A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra were participating in the Air Force’s Wings Over Dallas air show when they collided mid-air near the Dallas Executive Airport just before 1:30 p.m. local time, the FAA said
Hank Coates, the President and CEO of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF), a group dedicated to the preservation of World War Two combat aircraft, told a news conference the B-17 typically has a crew of four to five people.
The P-63 is crewed by a single pilot, Coates added, but would not say how many people were on board the aircraft at the time of the crash, nor their name or condition.
News footage from the scene showed crumpled wreckage of the planes in a grassy area inside the airport perimeter.
Dallas Fire-Rescue told The Dallas Morning News that there were no reported injuries among people on the ground.
According to the event’s website, several planes were scheduled to do a flyover demonstration Saturday afternoon. Social media posts showed hundreds of people gathered to watch the flyover. The 3-day event is in honor of Veteran’s Day, which was Friday.
The Dallas Executive Airport Twitter account tweeted early Saturday afternoon that there had been an “incident” during the show, and that fire authorities were responding to the scene.
