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2 WWII planes collide & crash at Texas airshow (Video)

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Two vintage World War Two-era planes have collided and crashed at an air show in the US state of Texas, killing at least two.

Footage shows the aircraft striking each other at a low altitude, breaking one of the aircraft in half. A fireball can be seen as it hits the ground.

The planes – one of them a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress – were taking part in a commemorative air show near Dallas.

It was not immediately clear how many people were in the two aircraft.

The Allied Pilots Association, which represents American Airlines pilots, said Terry Barker and Len Root – two of its former members – were among people who died in the collision.

Other media reports suggest as many as six people may have died in the collision.

Eyewitness Chris Kratovil – who was one of between 4,000 and 6,000 who had gathered to watch the Wings Over Dallas Airshow on Saturday – told the BBC he had “never seen a crowd grow more quiet or more still in just a blink of an eye”.

“It went from being a fairly excited, energetic crowd… to complete silence and stillness, and a lot of people, including myself, turned their children towards them and away from the airfield because there was burning wreckage in the middle of the airfield.”

The Federal Aviation Administration said it will investigate the crash at the three-day event, which describes itself as the US’s premiere WW2 air show and was being held in honour of Veterans Day,

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson called it a “terrible tragedy”.

“The videos are heart-breaking,” he tweeted. “Please, say a prayer for the souls who took to the sky to entertain and educate our families today.”

The number of casualties are not yet confirmed, he said, but added that nobody on the ground had been reported injured.

The event’s website states that several planes had been scheduled to do a flyover demonstration on Saturday.

The B-17 bomber played a major role in winning the air war against Germany in WW2.

The second plane, a P-63 Kingcobra, was a fighter aircraft used in the same war, but used in combat only by the Soviet Air Force.

The B-17 usually has a crew of about four to five people, while the P-63 has a single pilot, said Hank Coates, from the Commemorative Air Force which organised the event – but he could not confirm any fatalities.

“This was a WW2 flight demonstration type air show where we highlight the aircraft and their capabilities,” he told reporters.

(BBC News)

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Names of Mayors and Chairpersons of several LG bodies gazetted

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A gazette extraordinary has been issued containing the names of Mayors, Deputy Mayors, Chairpersons, and Vice-Chairpersons of several local government institutions.

The names have been gazetted based on recommendations sent to the National Election by political parties and independents groups that secured a majority in local government bodies at the recently concluded Local Government (LG) election.    

Accordingly, the Election Commission has taken steps to publish the names from among the political parties and independent groups that secured a majority at the Local Government election held recently.

The names of the elected and nominated members for the respective local authorities, following the Local Government election were also published in the government gazette based on the respective administrative districts.

As per the gazette notification issued by the Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils, and Local Government on February 17, 2025, the term of office of local government bodies is scheduled to commence on June 2, 2025

පළාත් පාලන ආයතනවල සභාපතිවරුන්ගේ නම් ඇතුළත් ගැසට් පත්‍රය නිකුත් කෙරේ by poornima

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Weather Alert: Showers to ease in Southwest, strong winds forecast in North

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Prevailing showery condition in the southwestern part of the island is expected to reduced gradually from today (01st)

Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central and North-western provinces and in Galle and Matara districts.

Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in Uva province and in Ampara and Batticaloa districts during the afternoon or night.

Fairly strong winds of about (30-40) kmph can be expected at times over Western slopes of the central hills and in Northern, North-central and North-western provinces and in Hambantota and Trincomalee districts.

The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

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Aluthgamage and Fernando assigned printing work in prison

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Former Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage and former Sathosa Chairman Nalin Fernando, sentenced this week to jail for 20 and 25 years, respectively, have been assigned duties in the printing section at the Welikada prison, sources said.

Both of them are being held together away from the main section of the prison’s ‘chapel’ section, where prisoners serving life sentences and those convicted of murder and rape are held. The prison’s printing section prints its own documentation.

Prison sources said that in placing them in relevant wards to serve their jail term, the authorities had taken into consideration the security of the two convicts, as they might have had political enemies.

Mr Aluthgamage was handed a 20-year term of rigorous imprisonment, while Mr Fernando was given a 25-year term of rigorous imprisonment by a High Court trial-at-bar after being found guilty of causing a Rs 53 million loss to the state.

They were accused of importing carrom boards and checkers boards through Sathosa during the 2015 presidential elections and distributing them to clubs.

Their lawyers said yesterday they were awaiting the certified copy of the judgement to prepare the appeal papers. The appeal will be considered by the Supreme Court.

(sundaytimes.lk)
(This story, originally published by sundaytimes.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)

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