An independent review of the City of Dallas’ response to the deadly airshow plane crash that killed six people at the Dallas Executive Airport on November 12 is coming soon.
Patrick Carreno, interim director of Dallas’ aviation department, told The Dallas Morning News that the City plans to hire an outside entity, Virginia-based firm The Olson Group, Ltd., to conduct the review.
“Any time something like this happens, we want to be able to have the opportunity to review it and learn from what happened,” Carreno said of the City’s response to the airshow crash.
It is fairly common for the City to conduct reviews, or “after-action reports,” of its responses to major incidents, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Hiring an outside contractor to conduct the evaluation of the City’s response could cost $25,000 to $30,000, according to Carreno.
The review process could take four to six months, but Carreno expects a summary of the findings could be presented to the City Council in the spring.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) tweeted that the investigation into the cause of the crash between a Boeing B-17G airplane and a Bell P-63F airplane during the Wings Over Dallas airshow is ongoing, but a preliminary report of its findings has been released.
“When the fighter formation approached the flying display area, the P-63F was in a left bank, and it collided with the left side of the B-17G, just aft of the wing section,” the report read.
“Both airplanes broke up in flight and impacted terrain in a grassy area on airport property south of the approach end of runway 31. A fire ignited in the wing center section of the B-17G as it descended to the ground. The B-17G exploded upon ground impact,” the report continued.
The NTSB will release the final crash investigation report between the end of 2023 and the first half of 2024.
Officials from the Commemorative Air Force have identified the six victims of the crash as Terry Baker, Craig Hutain, Kevin “K5” Michels, Dan Ragan, Leonard “Len” Root, and Curt Rowe. All of the victims were either pilots or crewmembers of the two airplanes that collided. There were no casualties on the ground due to the crash.
“Any time something like this happens, we want to be able to have the opportunity to review it and learn from what happened,” Carreno said of the City’s response to the airshow crash.
No sh$t, Sherlock.