Six die at Texas air show

Photo Courtesy of Unsplash

Photo Courtesy of Unsplash

Caitlin Hill

  A crash at the Dallas Executive Airport during an air show killed six people Saturday, including a Hilliard man. 

  The planes involved in the crash were World War II-era planes, a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber and a P-63 Kingkobra fighter, and they crashed into one another at 1:20 p.m. Saturday afternoon, according to NBC 4. When the planes collided, they broke apart on impact, reached the ground within seconds and burst into flames. Around 40 fire units responded to the scene after the crash, according to CNN. 

   The Hilliard native involved in the crash was Major Curtis J. Rowe. He was a member of the Ohio Wing Civil Air Patrol. He volunteered to fly the B-17 as part of the Commemorative Air Force, according to NBC 4. Rowe served multiple roles, which includes safety officer, operations officer, and as Ohio Wing Maintenance Officer, over his three decades with the Ohio Wing of CAP, according to NBC 4. 

   According to CNN, the B-17 that was involved in the crash was rare and was one of 45 left, and one of only nine that were able to fly. Around 12,000 of the B-17 were produced between 1936-1945, with around 5,000 of the planes lost during the war and most of the rest were scrapped by the late 1950s. The P-63 is even rarer than the B-17 involved in the crash with only around 14 known to still be around and one of four that was able to fly, according to CNN. There were known to be around 3,300 P-63s, with the majority of them used by the Soviet Union during World War II. 

   Neither of the planes had black boxes, which record the flight data. Investigators are looking for photos and videos of the crash to help aid in the investigation, according to CBS News. 

   According to CNN, nobody on ground was reported injured during the accident but debris reached Highway 67 and to a local strip mall.