Two airshow pilots are safe after the warbirds they were piloting collided in mid air during last weekend’s Flying Legends airshow at Duxford, England.
The incident involved a P-51D Mustang known as Big Beautiful Doll and a Douglas AD-4NA Skyraider. The airplanes were flying in a triangular formation along with one additional P-51 when they began peeling off one at a time to the left. At that point, the Skyraider’s right wing came too close to the tail of the leading P-51, the two airplanes collided, and the P-51 began to fishtail.
Rob Davies, who owns and was piloting the leading P-51__ during the show, was able to bail out from the damaged aircraft shortly before it crashed in a wooded area. Spectators who witnessed the event said they were not sure at the time if Davies was high enough during the bail out to avoid injury, but an announcer at the show later informed them that Davies had landed safely and walked to an ambulance.
The Skyraider involved in the incident was able to make a safe emergency landing, despite having lost a large chunk of its right wing during the collision.
The incident occurred at around 5 p.m. last Sunday over farm land, and no one on the ground was hurt. The U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch is launching an internal investigation of the incident.
The warbird collision at Duxford is one of two midair collisions that took place last Sunday and resulted in no injuries. On that same day, a Cessna 206 floatplane and a Piper Navajo collided while flying over a mountain corridor in Alaska. In what the FAA has dubbed an “extremely unusual” event, none of the 13 people aboard the two planes was injured.
