An Austin man was among the six killed in a mid-air collision during an air show in Dallas on Saturday, according to a report from Austin ABC affiliate KVUE.
The station reported that 53-year-old Kevin Michels was a crewmember on the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress involved in the accident.
Originally from Colorado, KVUE reported, Michels picked up stakes and made Central Texas his home.
The World War II era Flying Fortress carrying Michels and a few others collided with a Bell P-63 Kingcobra near the Dallas Executive Airport on a clear day.
An Associated Press (AP) article that was ran by Houston CBS affiliate KHOU reported that the Dallas County Medical Examiner (DCME) confirmed the number of fatalities.
Investigators said that there were no injuries on the ground, the AP reported.
KVUE reported that Michels moved to Austin from Denver in 2001, moving back to Colorado after a number of years only to return to the state capital and settle in Leander.
“We just had their going-away party here in Denver a few months ago,” longtime friend Scott Reed said, according to the station. “It’s a shame he didn’t get to enjoy Austin a bit more again.”
KVUE reported that Michels came out of retirement to take a job with Applied Materials following his return to the area.
Reed told the station that he met Michels when the former hosted a Denver Broncos watch party in Austin more than 20 years ago and the men became fast friends.
“[He] just walked in and started watching with us, yelling at the Broncos with us,” Reed said. “He was always like that with people – big people person.”
According to Reed, Michels left behind a common-law wife and her son he took in as his own, per KVUE.