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The NTSB opened its public docket for the ongoing investigation into the midair at the Wings Over Dallas Airshow on Nov. 12, 2022 when a Boeing B-17G and Bell P-63F collided in midair, killing six people. The docket contains over 1,900 pages of factual information, like reports on human performance factors, airworthiness and photographs. The NTSB has not issued its final report but said it will do so at a later date with the analysis, findings, recommendations and probable cause determination.RELATED STORIES:NTSB releases preliminary report on the midair at Wings Over Dallas, stating there were no altitude deconflictionsAOPA releases video analyzing Wings Over Dallas midair collisionHere is what we have learned about the 6 airmen lost in the Wings Over Dallas crash
The aviation community was stunned when a Bell P-63 Kingcobra (N6763 ) collided with a Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress (N7227C) during the annual Wings Over Dallas Airshow at the Dallas Executive Airport (RBD). Video showed the moment when the P-63 struck the B-17, igniting on impact and severing the Flying Fortress. The victims were identified as Terry Barker, Leonard "Len" Root, Curt Rowe and Kevin "K5" Michels aboard the B-17 and Craig Hutain flying the P-63. The six victims were beloved members of the aviation community and the Commemorative Air Force, which owned both of the warbirds.
The NTSB preliminary report said that the air boss directed both formations to maneuver southwest of the runway before returning to the flying display area, or the designated performance area. He told the fighter formation to transition to a trail formation, fly in front of the bomber formation and proceed near the 500 ft show line. The bombers were then directed to fly down the 1,000 ft show line. The report noted that there were no altitude deconflictions briefed before the flight or while the aircraft were flying. The P-63F was in a left bank when it collided with the left side of the B-17G, just aft of the wing section. Both planes were broken apart in the air and fell to the grassy terrain south of the approach end of runway 31 at the airport. The B-17 ignited in the wing center section during the descent and exploded upon ground impact.
The docket included an analysis based on video recorded with a handheld camera, showing the collision at 4.5 seconds. The ADS-B recorded accurate ground track data for both of the aircraft up to about 0.6 seconds before the collision and the recorded altitude data was less accurate. The ADS-B data did not include the heading, pitch and roll orientation angles of the aircraft. The video analysis was based on a mathematical model of the optics of the camera recording. A computer program to simulate camera optics was used to project the calibration references onto the video frame to determine unknown values such as yaw, pitch and roll. The main goal of the video analysis was to estimate the roll angle of the P-63, which could be estimated accurately. The video analysis reported that the P-63 heading angle was about 357 degrees at time zero seconds and 339 degrees at time 3.1 seconds while the B-17 heading was estimated as 329 degrees at time zero and 339 degrees at time 3.1 seconds.
The two planes involved were historic aircraft, part of the CAF collection of warbirds. This B-17 was one of five operational models still flying. The victims of the tragic collision were veteran members of the industry, serving as military pilots, airline pilots, flight crew, maintenance, flight directors and volunteers, some working extensively with the B-17.
The B-17G is a variant of the B-17 Flying Fortress, developed as a four-engine heavy bomber for the U.S. Army Air Corps in the 1930s. The G variant was the most common and 8,680 were built between 1943 and 1945. The B-17G was flying as the lead airplane in a five-airplane bomber flight during the airshow. The large aircraft has a wingspan of 103 ft and nine inches with a gross weight of 54,000 lbs. The mighty B-17G was nearly triple the size of the P-63F. The Kingcobra is an American fighter developed during WWII for the U.S. Army Air Corps. The single-engine plane has a wingspan of 38 ft and four inches and a gross weight of 8,800 lbs. The P-63F was serving as the third of three planes in the fighter flight.
The B-17 took off from runway 31, followed by the B-24 and SB-2C. The group made its entrance over the crowd and was joined by the already flying B-25s a couple of minutes later, The bomber group, now with five planes, flew back to the 1,000 ft line in the direction of the runway to be joined by the fighter group. The P-63 joined the fighter group, following two P-51 variants. The fighters joined the bombers in a left turn and flew up runway 31, alongside the 1,000 ft line. During each runway pass the bombers would descend to between 200 ft agl and 500 ft agl, then climb for the turning maneuver. The B-17 was the slowest in the bomber formation and the formation was maintained by the B-17 making smaller and tighter dog bone turns while the other planes made wider turns. The P-63 speeds were more evenly matched with the other fighters, allowing the fighters to fly in close formation with about 100 ft altitude separation.
The fighters followed the Bombers through a 90-degree turn but during the 270-degree left portion of the dog bone maneuver the fighter planes were to get in front of the bombers. The fighters climbed to 1,600 ft agl and made a tighter 270-degree left turn than the bombers that remained under 1,000 ft agl. The fighters reached the apex of the climb and turn and descended, increasing their speed. The lead P-51 pulled ahead of the B-17, followed by the second P-51. The P-63 was about three seconds behind the second P-51 and closely followed in its flight path. Seconds later, the P-63 flight path was no longer curved toward the 1,000 ft line like the P-51s, but straighter, possibly towards the 500 ft show line. The P-63 was descending and the B-17 was descending at a slower rate, with a flight path curving left towards the 1,000 ft line. The final ADS-B data points for both aircraft were recorded approximately 150 ft apart horizontally and at nearly the same altitude, colliding shortly after.
The docket contains information from the air boss's transcript during the show. The air boss controlled all take-offs and landings from the airport during the show.
"Fighters, can you walk your way up to the B-17?" the air boss said before the fighters began following the bombers. "I'm going to break y'all out after this um- you're going to end up breaking left. So you're going to follow the bombers to the right ninety out and then you're going to roll back in left and be on the five hundred foot line if y'all want to set up an echelon for a break so y'all can get in trail."
Shortly after, the lead P-51 asked for him to repeat the instruction for the fighters, telling the air boss "That was not clear." The air boss later tells the B-17 to "keep the turn a little flat for me." An unintelligible transmission was followed by the air boss communication saying "Just a little bit. When you come back through you're coming through on the thousand-foot line," to which the B-17 responded "-Roger."
In the seconds before the crash, the air boss told the fighters, "Nice job fighters, come on through," then continued, "Fighters will be a big pull up and to the right." At this point, the lead P-51 was ahead of the B-17 and the second P-51 was pulling up alongside with the P-63 following behind. The crash occurred and two seconds later the air boss said, "Knock it off. Knock it off. Roll the trucks. Roll the Trucks. Roll the Trucks. Knock if off. Roll the trucks," before coordinating diverting the other aircraft to alternative airports.
One concern many in the aviation community had following the deadly collision was the visibility of the planes. The NTSB performance study noted that in simulations performed during the investigation, the B-17 was not visible to the P-63 at impact. In the simulation, the P-63 was not visible in the B-17 three seconds before impact. It became rapidly visible behind the left wing during the final seconds of the flight.Check out the NTSB public docket here
The docket includes hundreds of pages of information, but a probable cause will not be issued until the final report is released. The NTSB said that no conclusions about how or why the crash occurred should be drawn from the information provided in the docket. Additional information will be added to the docket as it becomes available. Final reports typically take one to two years, depending on the crash and the investigation class.