Dallas air show plane part falls in homeowner's yard

 Allen Cone

A piece of metal from a plane participating in a Dallas air show fell into a neighbor's backyard, aviation officials said.

The Dallas Aviation Administration acknowledged debris fell off an unspecified aircraft at the Wings Over Dallas air show Saturday and into a yard 1 mile north of the Dallas Executive Airport.

"It appears that when the landing gear was lowered, it sheared a pin holding the door, which came loose and detached," said Dallas Aviation Director Mark Duebner, in a letter to a concerned neighbor. "The piece was aircraft aluminum and was approximately 1 foot by 5 feet and weighed about 10 pounds."

Although the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating, Duebner said, "It appears to be an unpreventable incident. We do feel confident all safety measures are being followed and are similar to other air shows."

No one was injured and the aircraft landed safely.

"We have retrieved the part. It detached when the aircraft was landing. There were no injuries and the aircraft landed safely," said Leah Block, Commemorative Air Force vice president of marketing.

Brent Johnson told KXAS TV he was in his backyard when he saw the aircraft piece fall into his neighbor's yard, and the landing sounded 'like a car crash."

"I noticed a shadow going across my lawn. It was a big shadow and I thought to myself, 'That's a big bird.' I see this huge piece of metal fall from the sky and land in my neighbor's yard," said Johnson.

Then, he got a closer look.

"When I looked, it had had oil over it and I could tell it was a piece of an airplane that had just flown over," said Johnson. "The piece could've easily fallen on my home. It could've easily fallen on anyone's home around here."

City Councilman Casey Thomas, who represents the neighborhood near the airport, met with aviation officials Sunday.

"All precautions that are possible have been made and I was assured that this was a one time type of situation," Thomas said. "Just know that we are always concerned, first and foremost, about the safety of our residents in the area."

Some homeowners want the city to re-evaluate plans about bringing the show back net year.

"I don't think I'm in support of it. Not after a huge piece fell next door to my house," Theresa Enriquez told KXAS. "It's dangerous. Every person on this street has kids and they're always playing outside."

The show Friday through Sunday commemorated the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor and featured "TORA! TORA! TORA!," a re-creation of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor using World War II-era aircraft and pyrotechnics. Also dozens of other WWII-era aircraft flew and were on display.