The National Transportation and Safety Board recently released a preliminary report of the plane crash that involved former NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his family earlier this month via Yahoo Sports. Earnhardt Jr., his wife Amy, their daughter, dog and two pilots were involved in the crash and everyone was able to escape with no major injuries. According to the report, the plane bounced twice on the runway of the Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Elizabethton, Tennessee, before it went back in the air and went down for the final time.
“Airport surveillance video captured the initial touchdown, which occurred near the runway touchdown zone, and portions of the accident sequence,” the report stated. “The airplane bounced twice, then continued airborne down runway 24 until it touched down a third time with about 1,000 ft of paved surface remaining. The video revealed that the right main landing gear collapsed and the outboard section of the right wing contacted the runway shortly after the third touchdown. The airplane departed the paved surface beyond the runway 24 departure end threshold, through an open area of grass, down an embankment, through a chain-link fence, and up an embankment, coming to rest on the edge of Tennessee Highway 91.”
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The report also said once, the plane came to a stop, the pilots made sure to get Earnhardt and his family out of the plane and get them to safety since there was a fire.
“The pilots’ account of the landing was generally consistent with the video,” it said. “The pilots also reported that, following the second bounce, a go-around was attempted; however, the airplane did not respond as expected, so they landed straight-ahead on the runway and could not stop the airplane prior to the excursion. After the airplane came to a stop, the flight crew secured the engines and assisted the passengers with the evacuation. The main entry door was utilized to exit the airplane. A postaccident fire was in progress during the evacuation.
Earnhardt Jr. was the only one who had to be sent to the hospital for minor injuries. He still races part-time and it looks like he’ll be back on the track very soon.
“Yes. I plan on driving still,” Earnhardt said on Twitter. “My lower back is bruised up real bad. Lots of swelling and I just need that to go down and the pain to chill out. I’ve been treating the area every day solely to get well to race. I have a plan B but hope not to use it.”
