30 replies to this topic

[Megatron]

It doesn't look good.

http://www.thatsraci...in/10005561.htm

[Dennis Hockenbury]

From the Piedmont Channel.com

The son of NASCAR owner Rick Hendrick was among 10 people killed Sunday when a small plane headed from Concord to Martinsville crashed in Patrick County in Virginia.

Ricky Hendrick, a former NASCAR driver, died in the incident. John Hendrick, Rick's brother, and Kimberly and Jennifer Hendrick, John's twin daughters, also died in the crash.

The plane was en route to Martinsville Speedway for Sunday's Subway 500. Jimmie Johnson was driving the Hendrick car in the race and was the winner. Officials reportedly lost contact with the plane at about 12:30.

All my best to the Hendrick family and the others during this difficult time.

[xflow7]

RIP

[Megatron]

Rick Hendrick lost his father earlier this year as well.

[George Bailey]

Horrible news.

I realize the per mile numbers are probably the same for the average businessman, but it seems like Nascar is always losing people to small plane accidents. It always makes me nervous for the guys who fly themselves to the races like Rusty Wallace.

[xflow7]

Originally posted by Megatron
Rick Hendrick lost his father earlier this year as well.

Cripes, that's right. I forgot about that. Man, that family's had a tough few years. Rick was quite ill at one point, no?

[Megatron]

He beat cancer around 1997 or 1998. They still have that "Marrow2" or something like that on the Hendrick cars.

I was about 10 miles from where Alan Kulwicki's plane went down in 1993 and in that area the night it happened.

Right now you just feel helpless and have that sick feeling in your stomach that won't go away.

[tifosi]

Gawd thats so creepy. I was supposed to go flying at 10:00 this morning and when I got to the airport and saw the weather decided not to go up. Virginia was really clouded up today once you got over towards the mountains. Thoughts are with the Hendrick's familty.

[FordPrefect]

Tragic news, my thoughts are also with them.

[Buford]

Originally posted by tifosi
Gawd thats so creepy. I was supposed to go flying at 10:00 this morning and when I got to the airport and saw the weather decided not to go up. Virginia was really clouded up today once you got over towards the mountains. Thoughts are with the Hendrick's familty.

WOW!! Nice move. Really a sad day for racing. It reminds me of when we lost Graham Hill and his team and the crash that killed all the USAC officials in about 1978.

[Ray Bell]

Yes, I remember that... the news came through when we were racing at Phillip Island...

There have been other aircraft tragedies in sport, of course... the loss of the whole Manchester United soccer team back in the early sixties (I think that was the era...) was one of the big one. Grand Prix driver Ron Flockhart was also killed when he gently nosed his WW2 Mustang into the ground at about 400mph near Melbourne back about 1962.

Personally, the one that struck me the most was Gary Campbell... former F5000 and ANF2 and Formula Vee driver... a truly great bloke... put down his twin engined plane following all the rules in 1989... a really great man lost in that instant.

[xflow7]

Didn't Mark Martin also lose some family and/or team members in a plane crash 4 or 5 years ago?

Amazing how fortunate David Coulthard and his companions were to walk away from that crash they had, albeit with tragic loss of pilot/co-pilot.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Buford
.....Graham Hill and his team.....

Of whom I was personally acquainted with designer, Tony Alcock...

Tony was the originator of the Birrana cars that brought a new high level of workmanship and design to Australian racing back in 1972/73... Tony designed and actually cut and welded the metal in those early cars, a man like that, a total perfectionist as well, was just the kind of bloke F1 would attract.

[Rob G]

Originally posted by xflow7
Didn't Mark Martin also lose some family and/or team members in a plane crash 4 or 5 years ago?

Not sure, but his team owner Jack Roush narrowly escaped getting killed in an air crash last year or the year before.

[xflow7]

Originally posted by Rob G

Not sure, but his team owner Jack Roush narrowly escaped getting killed in an air crash last year or the year before.

Jeez, forgot about Roush's crash, too. Found this which is what I was recalling.

"Martin's father, Julian, the racer's stepmother, Shelley, and the couple's 11-year old daughter, Sarah, died in the crash of a private plane near Ely, Nev., in 1998. The elder Martin was piloting the plane."

[ehagar]

Originally posted by Buford


WOW!! Nice move. Really a sad day for racing. It reminds me of when we lost Graham Hill and his team and the crash that killed all the USAC officials in about 1978.

Good call tifosi. Knowing when it is beyond ones limit is, in my opinion, the most essential PDM skill you can have. There are old pilots, there are bold pilots, there are few old bold pilots...

Unfortunately, a lot of people do get killed by not evaluating the weather conditions, not knowing the area very well, or overestimating their abilities in IMC conditions.

I had a friend who almost bought it pushing it because he thought he just had to make it back. This was in the British Columbia interior mountains. The ceiling was low and the visibility was pretty much on the limits. As he watched a antenna tower whiz by he figured that was it. But he was lucky.

Anyway, very sad.

[xflow7]

Very true what you say ehagar. However, not sure we should yet be assuming we know the cause of the crash. By the sounds of it, the pilots were professionals employed by the team. Not to say that makes them infallible, but it seems to me it's a little early to be chalking it up as a misjudgement.

[ehagar]

Originally posted by xflow7
Very true what you say ehagar. However, not sure we should yet be assuming we know the cause of the crash. By the sounds of it, the pilots were professionals employed by the team. Not to say that makes them infallible, but it seems to me it's a little early to be chalking it up as a misjudgement.

Absolutely... unfortunately after attending several flight safety seminars it seems as though most of the time accidents are pilot error... professionals or otherwise. Mind you that phrase 'pilot error' is used for just about everything.

But you are right, assume nothing.

[Admiral Thrawn]

The reason for David Coulthard's Learjet 35A crash was a result of pilot error.

They had a contained engine failure during cruise, and should have made a standard procedure emergency landing.

Instead, the pilots made the final approach way too fast (around 200KIAS), and the plane was not stabilised.

By the time they got close to the airport, the stupid pilots tried to slow down all of a sudden (by dumping flaps and gear), seriously upsetting the balance of the plane, and didn't take into account the assymetric thrust.

They applied extra power to the good engine just before touchdown, and this resulted in the opposite wing dropping, striking the ground, the nose then pitching down and ploughing into the grass to the right of the runway threshhold. The broken left wing sprayed fuel all over the place, catching fire while the fuselage slid along the grass for some distance before finally coming to a halt. The passengers evactuated the aircraft through the large hole now in the front of the fuselage, exposed as a result of the cockpit having been completely ripped off.

[Megatron]

Heres a few quotes from Jayski.com

Hendrick Motorsports Statement:
Hendrick Motorsports officials have confirmed that an airplane owned by the organization was reported missing and downed today [Oct 24th]. The craft was en route to Martinsville, Va., from Concord, N.C.
The following is a full list of passengers:
Randy Dorton, Hendrick Motorsports engine director;
John Hendrick, Hendrick Motorsports president;
Jennifer Hendrick, daughter of John Hendrick;
Kimberly Hendrick, daughter of John Hendrick;
Ricky Hendrick, son of Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick and owner of two NASCAR teams;
Joe Jackson, sponsor representative;
Scott Lathram, employee of NASCAR driver Tony Stewart;
Elizabeth Morrison, co-pilot;
Richard Tracy, pilot;
Jeff Turner, Hendrick Motorsports general manager
Hendrick Motorsports asks that those affected be kept in your thoughts and prayers, and respectfully requests that privacy be considered throughout this difficult time. Further inquiries regarding the investigation of this incident should be directed to the appropriate government agencies.(HMS PR)(10-25-2004)

Deputies barricaded the entrance to the Hendrick shop in Charlotte, allowing only team employees to enter the compound. Twenty or so people could be seen in the parking lot inside. A small bouquet of flowers had been placed at the entrance gate.(AP)(10-25-2004)

More on the victims...

http://www.thatsraci...in/10006527.htm

I have had my fair share of bad things to say about NASCAR over the years but I will say that when something like this happens, there few other sports that come together to help people as best they can than NASCAR. I'm not in NASCAR, but I have a link or two and people will go out of their way to help the familes.

[tifosi]

Originally posted by ehagar


Absolutely... unfortunately after attending several flight safety seminars it seems as though most of the time accidents are pilot error... professionals or otherwise. Mind you that phrase 'pilot error' is used for just about everything.

But you are right, assume nothing.

Aircraft (GA, not the big boys), incidents are about 90% due to pilot error. Whether its a faulty pre-flight, underestimating the weather, or pushing the fuel envelope. Almost every NTSB report I have read comes down at some point to an incorrect decision made by the pilot. From what I have heard the pilot had a mnissed approach and was on a go around. The airports along the I-81 corridor are small and tucked into valleys between mountains (although I am not familiar with Martinsville specifically). The initial report says the airplane hit Bull Mountain. My initial gut feeling is this is yet another example of CFIT, Controlled Flight into Terrarin, i.e. the pilot drove th eplane into the ground. This happens all the time under less than VFR conditions, particulary if perhaps the pilot was not familiar with go-around procedures at Martinsville. Of course in due time we will get the NTSB report and no more. It possibly could have been a malfunction, but in the real world of GA, malfunctions are extremely rare. Another possibility on a go-around is a low level stall, which you practice all the time but at 2500 AGL.
Another point to consider is in situation like this with private aircraft, pilots often feel pressured to "complete the mission". May a good pilot has bought it, flying against his better judgement because the boss/client made it clear that he/she expected to arrive on schedule.
I want to make it clear I'm not assuming anything on this particular incident as we wont know for months, until the NTSB report comes out, but just pointing out common factors in GA incidents. And I'm going up Wednesday.

[John B]

Is it true that Rick Hendrick missed the flight due to illness?

If true, it would be sadly ironic - NASCAR's top 2 car owners missing death within a few years under extraordinary circumstances.

FOX at the end of the World Series game mentioned their thoughts and prayers were with Hendrick.

[Megatron]

Originally posted by John B
Is it true that Rick Hendrick missed the flight due to illness?

If true, it would be sadly ironic - NASCAR's top 2 car owners missing death within a few years under extraordinary circumstances.

FOX at the end of the World Series game mentioned their thoughts and prayers were with Hendrick.

Yes, it is true apparently.

[tifoso]

Some more descriptions of what may have happened from AP:

The Beech 200 King Air took off from Concord, N.C., and crashed Sunday in the Bull Mountain area seven miles from the Blue Ridge Regional Airport in Spencer, near the Martinsville Speedway, said Arlene Murray, spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration. Asked how the plane hit, Rayner said, "It's my understanding that the airplane stuck a steep incline and that the airplane and all its associated parts are confined to an area approximately 200 feet long."

Driver Rusty Wallace, also a pilot, said he considered the airports in Talladega, Ala., and Martinsville the two most dangerous facilities to fly into for races.

And from the Charlotte Observer:

Bull Mountain is known for its steep and rugged terrain, and that section of the Blue Ridge Mountains had been fogged most on Sunday, said Jenny Gooden, a Patrick County rescue captain.

They have recovered the remains of 5 of the 10 people on board.

[Deeq]

RIP
OMG four persons in the same family, fate could been less cruell in this tragedy

[Twin Window]

Originally posted by Ray Bell

... the loss of the whole Manchester United soccer team back in the early sixties (I think that was the era...)

For what it's worth, the Man U accident occurred on February 6th, 1958, and a handful miraculously did survive, including Sir Bobby Charlton and Sir Matt Busby - the manager of the 'Busby Babes'.

Munich '58 was an truly awful event, and this devastating blow to Hendrick Motorsports is little different.

Terrible, terrible news.

[tifoso]

According to the Charlotte Observer, Speed Channel will air a 30-minute special report at 7:30 p.m. tonight on the crash. Ralph Sheheen will host the program.

[caanan]

Thanks for the info. Couldn't think of a more tragic event than for a man to suffer losing multiple family members at the same time.

RIP

[Pikachu Racing]

Felix Sabates decide not to board the plane. Two owners missed death.

http://sports.espn.g...tory?id=1909370

[Megatron]

The program had a shot of a press conference early in the year featuring Papa Joe, John, Ricky, and Rick seated side by side during the 20th anniversary celebration of Hendrick Motorsports. Now three of the four are gone.

[Pikachu Racing]

A year later and still hits hard for everyone in NASCAR community.