B-17 bomber and a smaller plane collide at Dallas airshow

Rumble ^

[janetjanet998]

B-17 bomber and a smaller plane collide at Dallas airshow

[Chode]

prayers up

[painter]

It was!

[Robe]

B-17 was the “Texas Raider”, been flying airshows since the early ‘60s.. belonged to the CAF.

[Rokke]

Just a waste. Keep ‘em flying but let them perform solo.

[pepsi_junkie]

Some other comments about suicide don’t make sense at all. Why would the pilot take others with him?

Agree. You're flying an airplane, if you want suicide you can crash anywhere you want without killing anyone else.

[Bikkuri]

I curse that small airplane driver :(

[Bikkuri]

That didn’t look like a P-51...

[Francis McClobber]

That may be true, but a pilot can’t see through his own fuselage and wing no matter how high up on the aircraft the cockpit is. It really doesn’t take much angle of bank to start obscuring view.

[Bikkuri]

Also, I don’t know how many B-17s we have, but last I heard, there is only 1 B-29 left (Fifi), and we must pray that nothing happens to her.

[Bikkuri]

Like I stated earlier, that didn’t look like a P-51.

[Bikkuri]

We also used to have a CAF hangar/building at Schlemeyer Field (in Odessa).
I went to CAP there back in the late 70s.

[GingisK]

Look at the location of the pilot’s eyes and then the leading edge of the wing. Then think about the length and width of a B-17. Now think about what the pilot would see as he gained altitude, prior to flying roughly level to the impact point. The B-17 would most certainly be visible from the cockpit of either a P-51 or a P-63.

[TBall]

Intentional was my first thought,

[GingisK]

It was a Bell P-63. That had better visibility than a P-51.

The pilot may have a medical problem or perhaps target fixation.

[HamiltonJay]

From that angle looks like the 17 may have been below him and may not have seen it

Tragic

[New Perspective]

Look at the location of the pilot’s eyes and then the leading edge of the wing. Then think about the length and width of a B-17. Now think about what the pilot would see as he gained altitude, prior to flying roughly level to the impact point. The B-17 would most certainly be visible from the cockpit of either a P-51 or a P-63.

You are completely wrong. Have you ever flown in a B-17? Have your ever flown in a prop fighter aircraft? Didn't think so.

[GingisK]

Have your ever flown in a prop fighter aircraft?

Have you?

By the same token, I can clearly observe the relationship of the pilot's eye level with respect to the wing, and the width of the fuselage just ahead of the pilot. Those airplanes were designed for such an approach in the presence of many enemy and friendly aircraft.

[GingisK]

Have a look for yourself: View from P-51

[Fido969]

Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation Chairman and former Republican State Rep. Jason Villalba said he was at the air show today.

"We left at 12:00 but George and I had planned to take a ride on the B-17," Villalba told WFAA. "We didn’t because it was sold out. Wow.“

WFAA has not confirmed whether there were civilians riding on the B-17 when it crashed. Tickets for on-board tours of the B-17 were on sale online for the event. The cost for tickets was $495 each.

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/dallas-plane-crash-dallas-executive-airport-rbd/287-1d54f7a6-05ad-40ee-a02b-961874c52bea

[Fido969]

Update: Block also told ABC News she believes there were five crew members on the B-17 and one aboard the P-63. The Houston-based aircraft were not giving rides to paying customers at the time, she said.