Two planes collide and crash at WWII airshow in Dallas

Two vintage military planes have collided in midair and crashed during an air show in the US state of Texas.

The collision on Saturday caused the planes to plummet to the ground and explode into a ball of flames, sending black smoke billowing into the sky.

It was not clear how many people were injured or killed.

The incident involved a World War II-era Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra fighter flying at the Wings Over Dallas Airshow at Dallas Executive Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Emergency crews rushed to the site of the crash, airport officials said on Twitter, but it was unclear how many people were on board the two aircraft, the FAA said.

Hank Coates, the president and CEO of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF), a group dedicated to the preservation of World War Two combat aircraft, told a news conference the B-17 typically has a crew of four to five people.

The P-63 is crewed by a single pilot, Coates added, but would not say how many people were on board the aircraft at the time of the crash, nor their name or condition.

News footage from the scene showed crumpled wreckage of the planes in a grassy area inside the airport perimeter.

Dallas Fire-Rescue told The Dallas Morning News that there were no reported injuries among people on the ground.

Anthony Montoya saw the two planes collide.

Agencies