NTSB: Inadequate Planning, Lack of Oversight Contributed to Fatal Dallas Midair

All five aboard a Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress and the pilot of a Bell P-63F Kingcobra were killed when the fighter aircraft sliced into the bomber during a 2022 airshow.

Monday, December 09, 2024 at 05:09 PM ET

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NTSB investigators at the scene of the midair collision between a Boeing B-17G and Bell P-63F at the Wings Over Dallas WWII airshow at the Dallas Executive Airport (KRBD) in November 2022. [Courtesy: National Transportation Safety Board]

Key Takeaways:

The NTSB report on the 2022 Dallas airshow midair collision, which killed six, attributes the accident to inadequate planning and a lack of oversight.
Key contributing factors included an ineffective deconfliction strategy, confusing communication from the air boss, and the absence of a required prebriefed aircraft separation plan to ensure safe separation between aircraft.
Pilots also had limited ability to see and avoid each other due to flight path geometry and aircraft structures.
The investigation highlighted broader issues, including insufficient consideration of collision risks for dissimilar aircraft by the FAA and the International Council of Air Shows, as well as a lack of standardized communication and adequate safety assessments.

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Inadequate planning and a lack of oversight were among factors contributing to a midair collision that killed six people during a 2022 warbird airshow in Dallas, according to a new report released Monday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

In November 2022, all five aboard a Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress, known as Texas Raiders, and the pilot of a Bell P-63F Kingcobra were killed when the fighter aircraft sliced into the bomber, severing the tail during the Commemorative Air Force’s (CAF) Wings Over Dallas airshow.

Meg Godlewski

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.