BREAKING: Mid-air collision between two planes at an airshow in Dallas

[Ark]

Seems hard to believe you could ever lose track of a plane the size of a B17, but I guess you can fit a lot under the belly of your plane.

 

[jedi]

Seems hard to believe you could ever lose track of a plane the size of a B17, but I guess you can fit a lot under the belly of your plane.

My brother in law, small plane pilot, thinks it may have been a medical issue with the smaller plane. Think stroke, heart attack, etc.

He said even at those speeds one would attempt to steer one way or the other to attempt to avoid the bomber. But if the pilot had a stroke and was out of commission then the smaller plane became a missile on a collision course.

 

[Nazgul]

I was lucky enough to sit in on a pre-show briefing for the Thunderbirds at an air show in Huntington Beach, CA. My older brother is a retired Army Colonel, pilot and air show sponsor. The show was taking place on the beach with Coast Guard boats as a mark for center of the performance. It was interesting, the pilots were very professional as were the CO/Chiefs of the boats. Lot of information was integrated to make it work safely. Pilots needed a definite "runway" center to perform precise maneuvers. The boats were anchored with room to move with wind and current. The movement of the boats was an issue for the pilots.

The most well spoken and knowledgeable was the Chief Warrant Officer of one of the boats. He knew more about The whole operation than everyone else combined.

All in all an amazing peak at professionals at the peak of their trade.

Don

 

[Gunmetalgray]

Heard this was the same B17 that stopped at the Purdue airport a couple/few years ago. At that time it was open for folks to climb in & talk to the crew. Seasoned aviation folks, been around a while, could tell they loved flying/maintaining it. Terrible accident. Very sad to see.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Seems hard to believe you could ever lose track of a plane the size of a B17, but I guess you can fit a lot under the belly of your plane.

Any object close enough to your eye can make anything disappear. Your thumb at arms length can make the moon disappear.

Or a door pillar in a car can make another car disappear.

 

[Basher]

Clicky:

https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/2022-03/pilot_handbook.pdf

Go to page 17-21. Do the central blindspot illusion demonstration.

There. That’s a thing you know now.

Also, the KingCobra is a low-wing aircraft. When in a left bank, almost everything to your right is out of your field of view. The pilot may have known the B-17 was there, but because of his orientation he wasn’t aware of how close it was.

Anyway, EVERYTHING at this point is conjecture. Let people mourn the loss of their loved ones and let the NTSB get started.

 

[actaeon277]

Names of the Aircrew from Texas Raiders and the Kingcobra

commemorativeairforce.org

 

[Leadeye]

My brother in law, small plane pilot, thinks it may have been a medical issue with the smaller plane. Think stroke, heart attack, etc.

He said even at those speeds one would attempt to steer one way or the other to attempt to avoid the bomber. But if the pilot had a stroke and was out of commission then the smaller plane became a missile on a collision course.

I was wondering if the Cobra pilot might have been suffering from G induced lack of vision or conscious awareness. He is in a really tight high speed turn, and that sort of stuff catches up with us as we get older.

 

[jedi]

I was wondering if the Cobra pilot might have been suffering from G induced lack of vision or conscious awareness. He is in a really tight high speed turn, and that sort of stuff catches up with us as we get older.

Do u think we will ever know?
Do these airplanes have "black boxes" like modern passenger planes?

 

[jedi]

Names of the Aircrew from Texas Raiders and the Kingcobra

commemorativeairforce.org

View attachment 236760

So who was flying thr small plane?

 

[BigRed]

So who was flying thr small plane?

I believe it was Craig Hutain.

 

[funeralweb]

Yes. Blind spot. Absolutely. P63 descending, and beween the low wing and the nose, he appears to have lost track of the fortress and went right through the tail behind the wings.

He was the lucky one. He had no warning/idea what was happening before he was likely killed/unconscious by the time he exited the B17. The Fortress crew had a few seconds to register it was hit and was about to go down. So sad.
That is my take given the multiple angles floating around.

I've seen a still shot which appears to show the co-pilot of the B-17 reacting, still in his seat.

Texas Raiders was a beautiful aircraft; arguably the nicest one still flying until this accident. We've now lost 2 B-17s in 3 years.

 

[indyjohn]

Screw Dan Gryder. Let the professionals at the NTSB do their job. Until then, respect the dead and those they left behind. Hard stop.

What's your hard on about Dan Gryder? He provides a valuable content on topic to civilians, like you.

Turns out it's not Gryder that I follow but this guy. I never really paid attention to the name, I was after the content.

 

[Twangbanger]

Turns out it's not Gryder that I follow but this guy. I never really paid attention to the name, I was after the content.

I watch a lot of his videos. Usually very educational.

 

[DragonGunner]

Dan Gryder put up his 2 cents. He said another person was doing a good job with info about it. Could be the above video. Dans 30 minute video starts at the 20 minute mark. Appears from witnesses that the flight boss for all the planes wanted the king cobra to take the lead and get in front and instructed the cobra to do so… which he was attempting to do. Problem is they all wanted them in order and they all have different speeds. Dan knew the pilot of the other plane. It’s on you tube for the non haters can go watch.

 

[jedi]

So basically from that video the little plane was "speeding" in order to catch up with the other smaller planes to stay in front of the bomber as that is what the "air boss" wanted.

As with most "speeding" accidents he was going so fast and turning that he failed to see the traffic.

Similar to when you play the game "terminal" where you have to land planes at an airport. Only so much airspace and at times you have to "break the safety rules" and use the same airspace to take off/land (2nd plane) that is running low on fuel.

 

[buckwacker]

My brother in law, small plane pilot, thinks it may have been a medical issue with the smaller plane. Think stroke, heart attack, etc.

He said even at those speeds one would attempt to steer one way or the other to attempt to avoid the bomber. But if the pilot had a stroke and was out of commission then the smaller plane became a missile on a collision course.

Was he vaccinated?

 

[buckwacker]

Also, the KingCobra is a low-wing aircraft. When in a left bank, almost everything to your right is out of your field of view. The pilot may have known the B-17 was there, but because of his orientation he wasn’t aware of how close it was.

Anyway, EVERYTHING at this point is conjecture. Let people mourn the loss of their loved ones and let the NTSB get started.

Wouldn't that be less of an issue in the p63 as the cockpit sits forward of the wing.

 

[jedi]

Was he vaccinated?

The pilots of the crash no idea.
My BIL did not get vaxed.

 

[jedi]

Wouldn't that be less of an issue in the p63 as the cockpit sits forward of the wing.

Look at the YouTube videos.
It shows how visibility in these small planes is an issue when doing turns.