B-17 World War II plane involved in deadly Texas crash came to Evansville multiple times

Jon Webb, Evansville Courier & Press
·2 min read
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EVANSVILLE – A B-17 bomber that visited Evansville and took residents on flights above the city was one of the aircrafts involved in a deadly collision at a Texas air show on Saturday.

Six people were killed when the bomber – named Texas Raiders – slammed into a Bell P-63 Kingcobra during Wings Over Dallas: a World War II airshow put on by the Commemorative Air Force. Both planes were destroyed.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash. It could take years to determine the cause, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Thousands of attendees looked on as the P-63 cut into the B-17’s path and knifed into the fuselage, according to the Morning News. As of Sunday evening, two of the deceased had been identified as former American Airlines pilots Terry Barker and Len Root.

On Monday, the CAF identified the other victims as Curtis Rowe, Craig Hutain, Dan Ragan and Kevin Michels.

Texas Raiders made at least two visits to Evansville, in 2019 and 2021. During both stops, the CAF and Evansville’s Wartime Museum offered tours and flights.

Michels was aboard both times, as were Courier & Press reporters and photographers. And in 2019, so was then-96-year-old World War II veteran Allen Sanderson, who flew more than 100 combat missions during the war, including on D-Day. Sanderson died in January at the age of 99.

Evansville World War II veteran Allen Sanderson looks out the window of a B-17 on June 3, 2019. He flew 118 combat missions during the war, including two on D-Day.
Evansville World War II veteran Allen Sanderson looks out the window of a B-17 on June 3, 2019. He flew 118 combat missions during the war, including two on D-Day.

More:Evansville World War II veteran flew 118 combat missions. On Monday, he took flight again

Texas Raiders was one of only 48 "Flying Fortress" B-17s left in the world, and one of the few that still flew. But it never saw combat, Michels told the Courier & Press in 2019.

The plane came off the assembly line on July 12, 1945 – a month after V-E Day, and less than two months before fighting ended in the Pacific. To the military, that rendered the plane worthless. It was headed for the scrap yard until the Navy intervened and bought it for use in AWACS – the airborne early warning and control system.

It eventually became a flying museum and traveled the country.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: B-17 involved in deadly Texas crash came to Evansville multiple times