Warbird Information Exchange

Separation & situational awareness are obviously high priorities at large warbird gatherings like this, something went amuck and speculation is pointless at this time.

I have seen "flexible" shows when I was a kid, including shows with no tower control at all, in fact no tower present. This could not have been one of those, with major performers at a large city airfield. Typically, tower hands off control to an "airboss" when showtime starts, who uses his own frequency to control the aircraft, and has complete operational control over all performing aircraft for the entire duration of the show from takeoff to landing. These "bosses" actually travel the country controlling shows, not sure how many of them there are but I would guess the numbers are low.
Traffic can easily be monitored on a scanner, I have been listening in for years at shows. Never thought about it but I presume the airboss concept was/is to use guys to control this highly specialized and unique airflow, as an average air controller would not be well versed controlling a dozen or more aircraft making continuous passes. Also minimizes potential for miscommunications since they are all on a single control frequency. [The only exceptions to airboss control are demo teams like the Blue Angels. They use their own controller, and you can hear them hand off and hand back control during the progression of shows] When the last performer lands and the show is over, airboss hands airspace control back to the tower, and the formerly very active airboss frequency goes dead.

Very skilled and experienced, but not perfect, I have heard them get overwhelmed and make mistakes. No one would have had a better technical overview into what went wrong here than the airboss, and his input will be critical to the investigation.

Absolutely, I think everyone is tempted to theorize and assign blame and causes, but realize it would be pointless and tasteless so early on.

I posted this on the facebook group and the same applies here:

Dear members and supporters of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF),

I wanted to share with you the news of a tragic accident that happend earlier today. On Saturday, November 12, at approximately 1:20 p.m. CST, two CAF aircraft were involved in a mid-air collision at Dallas Executive Airport during the CAF's Wings Over Dallas WWII Airshow.

The aircraft involved were our B-17 Flying Fortress Texas Raiders N7227C and our P-63 Kingcobra N6763, both based out of the Houston area.

The B-17 operates with a flight crew of 4-5 individuals, and the P-63 operates with a single crew member. At this time, we are not able to provide the identity or personal information about the aircrew involved.

The Commemorative Air Force is working closely with local and national authorities who are investigating this accident. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident. Currently, no additional information is available.

We will continue to share information with you as we are able. It is always difficult to share news like this, however you are part of our aviation family. It is important that we support one another in times like this.

Hank Coates
President/CEO

CNN reports the NTSB will hold a briefing at 1500CST.

One other factor that most likely contributed. At the briefing for aircrew before the show, altitudes are assigned to different aircraft types. The trainers are usually at the lowest altitude, Cargos are next up, then bombers, and the highest altitude is usually assigned to the fighters. This is even true for TORA, even though the spectators see it as one big fur ball. Same for what appears to be head-on passes, one direction is assigned to one side of the runway (or markers) and the other direction to the other side. When time to land, Airboss lands the bottom aircraft first, then changes altitude assignments to work the stack down for landing. One of the aircraft most likely busted their ceiling, or floor.

For information's sake, formation flying at airshows happens according to this system: http://flyfast.org/ That way all the pilots and the airboss are on the same page. It's worth a look.