NTSB investigators find GPS devices | Here's the latest on the Dallas air show crash

The big discovery was that both planes had GPS devices on board which provide more accurate and instant information about speed and altitude than radar.

[WxOkie]

"We still don't know what caused this crash?" The little plane hit the big plane...

[flexflex]

The P63 pilot probably didn't see the slow moving B-17 while banking at high speed

[danielmurphy]

The biggest contributing factor to this crash is the canopy construction of the P-63, the P-63 and P-39 used a car door type entry into the cockpit from the side in stead of a one piece slide back type canopy like most aircraft of that era used. the canopy has extra metal supports along the sides running the length of the canopy which cuts down the peripheral view from both the left and right sides and it is a very tight cockpit to start with, i'm betting he never saw that B-17 until he actually hit and even then had no idea what he hit since he was in a banking turn with the B-17 slightly below him as he approached it. Not laying blame on anyone just a combination of factors leading to a tragic outcome that nobody foresaw happening.

[mikesterer]

Based on my 1 minute search, the king cobra pilot done goofed.

[jimrandolph]

So who's brilliant idea was it to have airplanes of differing speeds circling in close proximity at the same altitude? Put a microphone in front of the man or woman who created the perfect scenario for a disaster so they can give their explanation. The NTSB isn't even needed for this.

[kellychamberlain]

No investigation needed. Plane hits Plane on video. Big Accident.

[stickboy]

It is sad that so many have the answers without the facts.
Respect to the fallen and their families and friends and thank you to those investigating.

[Itsisawnotiseen]

What caused the crash? It appears to me that the smaller plane collided with the larger.

[sincerbeaux]

One word… NEGLIGENCE!

Any military trained pilot knows how to do a rejoin. You rejoin from below. Too much smash, too much overtake… unload, roll wings level and fly BELOW the aircraft. Doing the opposite means you lose sight and potentially crash.

[JoeLinux]

We know what happened: The smaller faster aircraft collided with the slower heavier aircraft. Knowing the GPS coordinates is not going to help much. Both planes fell into the field immediately after the impact. On the other hand, the smaller plane could have been flying too fast given the amount of traffic, and the GPS could confirm that.

[jimmywrangles]

I have a different opinion, there were far to many planes in the air at the same time and that's what caused the crash, there were 7 or 8 planes aloft all at the same time in crowded airspace and one simple error caused a disaster that wouldn't have happened if only the bombers had of been airborne. I know it's an airshow but there are way to many crashes at American airshows and this one could have been avoided in so many ways.

[pata]

I'm sure there are cameras and GoPros that were on board also . Don't know if and survived the crash/fire .

[bushpilot-bmkf]

Pilot error simple no question, poor flying by the cobra pilot. B-17 was at the cobras mercy.🙏

[leokimvideo]

The very low altitude of the multiple aircraft turning circuit loops and the difference in speed without any proper vertical separation is always going to be risky airshow aviation. You can be lucky most of the time but eventually your luck runs out. People claiming the biggest contributing factor is the poor forward visibility of the P-63 as the cause of the incident are not stepping back to look at how dangerous this circuit of flying aircraft doing a display looping around at each end of the airfield. Obviously time to arrest this dangerous style of entertainment.

[BoberMcBoberson]

The P-63’s poor outward visibility is for sure a contributing factor. But the bigger issue was the organization of the parade route in general. With such a huge difference in air speed, these planes should have never been circling at the same altitude. Their paths were bound to cross at some point, and unfortunately when it finally did, it was while the B-17 was in the P-63’s enormous blind spot.

[TheBagpuss]

So sad 😞 another beautiful B17 has been destroyed and I saw a news channel on here saying that the p63 was told to overtake the B17 when really it should’ve just took no chances and flew beside the beautiful B17 .
My heart goes out to the families of these men that lost their lives in this accident 🙏🙏🙏😩

[lawrencequave]

There's no doubt about what happened: the fighter hit the bomber ... but why? In my opinion some of the most important information is going to be what was the track/airspeed/altitude of EVERY airplane in the sky starting at least 5 seconds before the collision, was every airplane where it was supposed to be at all times, was it safe to have fast fighters/trainers mixing with slower bombers in such confined airspace, and such other things. This was an airshow, not wartime. Every aspect of the airshow should have been manageable. What did somebody do wrong, and what could/should have been done differently? Notice I've offered NO answers; only questions.

[fastback]

There's a walk around of the same P63 on YouTube and the pilot giving the interview says the view out of the cockpit is "not great".

[leger]

The cobra pilot must have known the bomber was somewhere in front of him. He must of known he was way faster than the bomber. Sad that bad judgement ended this flight. R.I.P fellas

[magnograil]

No, the P-63 was making a positive g turn so it had to have had the B-17 above the nose as it entered the turn. At some point in the turn it would have lost sight of the B-17 but the pilot would have known of the B-17's position and should have kept altitude so even if the turn went wide it would not intersect the B-17's flight path.