Wings Over Dallas Airshow Crash
Six people perished during a Wings Over Dallas World War II Airshow on Saturday, 11/12/2022 when two military aircraft collided in midair. Fortunately no one on the ground was injured, though debris from the crash was scattered over a nearby highway and strip mall.
Photo Credit - Larry Petterborg / AP
Photo Credit - Nathanial Ross Photography via AP
The above photo shows the fire and smoke released into the air after the crash. No information quantifying the impact of these toxic fumes on the environment and people in proximity to the crash site was readily available.
According to an AP news report, "Air show safety — particularly with older military aircraft — has been a concern for years. In 2011, 11 people were killed in Reno, Nevada, when a P-51 Mustang crashed into spectators. In 2019, a bomber crashed in Hartford, Connecticut, killing seven people. The NTSB said then that it had investigated 21 accidents since 1982 involving World War II-era bombers, resulting in 23 deaths."
Oregon's Deadly Airshow Legacy
Oregon also has a history of fatalities and extensive property damage as a result of airshow disasters.
On 8/27/2016 Marcus Paine died during the Airshow of the Cascades in Madras, Oregon when the Boeing Stearman biplane he was piloting crashed while engaged in low altitude, aerobatic maneuvers. Paine, who was 61 at the time, had a commercial pilot license and was also a flight instructor.
In June of 2005 a 69 year old stunt pilot and airshow performer, Tom Ellsberg, died at the Madras Airport while practicing aerobatic maneuvers.
During the July 2006 Oregon International Airshow, the pilot of a British 1950's fighter jet sustained fatal injuries when his plane crashed into a residential neighborhood shortly after taking off from the Hillsboro Airport. As reported in an Oregonian article, "A Hawker-Siddeley Hunter MK-58 piloted by Robert E. Guilford, a 73-year-old Los Angeles aviation lawyer, struck a home at Northeast 60th Avenue and Harvest Street. The craft exploded into a fireball that spread to three more houses in the neighborhood about one mile east of the Hillsboro Airport, near the Orenco Station area."
Airshow Aviation Accidents
For a list of the many airshow disasters involving multiple fatalities and extensive property damage that have occurred over the past 22 years click here.
For a lengthy list of the numerous pilots and people on the ground who were killed or injured as a result of tragic airshow accidents in the 20th century click here.
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