Tulsa Massacre: Airplanes Used Against Black Citizens

During the Tulsa Race Massacre, private and possibly National Guard aircraft flew over Greenwood. Survivors and contemporary accounts reported that planes fired on fleeing Black residents and dropped incendiary devices, making Tulsa one of the first instances of an American city being bombed from the air. At least a dozen planes circled and participated in the attack. The Oklahoma National Guard later confirmed planes were used for 'observation,' though eyewitness testimony consistently described gunfire from the air.