Dallas

Air Show Presents Safety Concerns After Aircraft Parts Fell From Sky

Wings Over Dallas returns October 6-8

After part of a vintage warplane fell in their neighborhood last year, some people who live near Dallas Executive Airport (DEA) have safety concerns about the Wings Over Dallas air show returning next month.

The show presented by the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) is scheduled for October 6-8, 2017.

Since the CAF moved to DEA in 2014, some neighbors were already complaining about noise from the World War II aircraft. Then a landing gear door fell in a front yard on Oct. 29, 2016, adding safety worries.

"It was just horrifying how close that came to potentially hitting somebody," said resident Debbie Burt.

She filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration.

After several e-mail inquiries and telephone calls seeking the result of her complaint, she finally received an FAA memo last week that was dated Feb. 10, 2017.

"As taxpayers, we are, I suppose, in a sense their clients and their bosses," she said. "I don't want to say it's a conspiracy. It's possible they were very overburdened with other priorities going on."

The memo said the FAA received findings from the National Transportation Safety Board on Jan. 26, 2017, that said "the landing gear door mechanism failure contained features that were consistent with an overstress failure in bending."

The memo said CAF is inspecting its fleet for any systemic problems.

"We find insufficient evidence to proceed and consider this matter closed," the memo said.

Burt said she still has concerns and would prefer to see the air show in a less populated area.

"It just leaves the responsibility back on the CAF to check all their airplanes. There's not any note there that they (FAA) will be following up," Burt said.

David Oliver, CAF vice president of safety and operations, said safety is the top priority for the non-profit organization.

"We have so many volunteers who care deeply for our assets, and they actually spend thousands of hours maintaining these aircraft, all of them professionals in their aviation careers," Oliver said. "I put my own family on these aircraft. I believe they are maintained to the highest FAA standards."

Oliver said about 60 of the vintage warplanes will be included in this year's air show.

A key mission of the CAF fleet is education on the role of military aviation.

"Being able to make them safe to fly in the future is critical," Oliver said. "They make some noise. They make the ground rumble. That's part of the experience when you come to the air show."

The city of Dallas welcomed the CAF move to DEA from West Texas in 2014, and city officials have stood by their support for the group and the air show.

Federal Aviation Administration Memo

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