On October 24, 2004, a Beechcraft Super King Air aircraft, registered N501RH[2] and owned by NASCAR team Hendrick Motorsports, crashed into mountainous terrain in Stuart, Virginia, during a missed approach to Blue Ridge Airport in Martinsville, Virginia. The aircraft was transporting eight passengers and two flight crew to Martinsville so they could attend the NASCAR event at Martinsville Speedway that afternoon.
 A Beechcraft Super King Air 200, similar to the one involved in the crash | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | October 24, 2004 |
| Summary | Pilot error resulting in Controlled flight into terrain, navigational issues and inclement weather ruled as contributing factors[1] |
| Site | Stuart, Virginia, USA |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Beechcraft Super King Air 200 |
| Operator | Hendrick Motorsports |
| Registration | N501RH |
| Flight origin | Concord Regional Airport Concord, North Carolina |
| Destination | Blue Ridge Airport Martinsville, Virginia |
| Passengers | 8 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Fatalities | 10 |
| Survivors | 0 |
All ten people on board were killed; among them, members of the Hendrick family including John Hendrick, president of Hendrick Motorsports, his twin daughters, Ricky Hendrick, former Busch Series driver and heir to the Hendrick empire. [3][4] Hendrick Motorsports staff involved includes Kimberly and Jennifer Hendrick, General Manager Jeff Turner, and chief engine builder Randy Dorton. The pilots were Richard Tracy and Elizabeth Morrison. Other passengers include Joe Jackson, an executive at DuPont and Scott Lathram, Tony Stewart's pilot.
Crash
The King Air took off from Concord, North Carolina, at 12 pm EST, carrying eight passengers and two flight crew. Among them were several key Hendrick Motorsports staff, including team president John Hendrick and his twin daughters, Kimberly and Jennifer Hendrick; Ricky Hendrick, son of Rick Hendrick; general manager Jeff Turner; and chief engine builder Randy Dorton. The other people on board were Joe Jackson, a DuPont executive; Scott Lathram, a pilot for driver Tony Stewart; and pilots Richard Tracy and Elizabeth Morrison, who was scheduled to come to her brother's (Rick Morrison) birthday party that night after the race. The plane was reported missing at 3:00 pm. Eventually 9-1-1 was called, and fire trucks and police cars patrolled the Virginia area during the race itself. Around midway through the race, a Civil Air Patrol search team patrolling the nearby Bull Mountain's peak found airplane wreckage on the summit. When removing the wreckage from the summit, response teams found the bodies of the Hendrick group at 11:05 pm. Everyone on board had been killed. A search by firefighters also discovered a scar on the mountain of moved dirt; the discovery proved that the airplane crashed on the side of the mountain and the explosion blew the wreckage and group upward.
NASCAR received word of the plane crash halfway through the race at Martinsville. Jimmie Johnson, a Hendrick driver, won the race. Due to the circumstances, the usual victory lane celebration did not take place. Upon the conclusion of the race, NASCAR called all Hendrick personnel to its mobile operations trailer where details of the accident were disclosed to the team.[5]
Investigation
An investigation conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) followed soon after the crash.
Weather
There were foggy conditions at the time of the plane crash.[6]
Pilot error as a cause
The NTSB suggested that pilot error was the cause of the crash, partly by:
- the plane missing its first landing attempt before veering off course and crashing;[7]
- the plane not climbing to its temporarily assigned altitude of 2,600 feet; it instead descended to 1,800 feet before crashing.[8]
The NTSB concluded its investigation by suggesting that the pilots failed to execute an instrument approach procedure and that both failed to use all navigational aids to confirm the airplane's position during its approach.[9]
Aftermath
Impact on Hendrick Motorsports
On February 18, 2005, Marshall Carlson, Rick Hendrick's son-in-law, signed on as new general manager.[10]
Memorials
The week following the crash, officials at the Atlanta Motor Speedway held a moment of silence before both the Busch and Nextel Cup races and lowered the flags to half staff. All the Hendrick Motorsports cars, as well as the No. 0 driven by Ward Burton of Hendrick-affiliated Haas CNC Racing, carried tributes on the hoods for those who were lost the week before. Jimmie Johnson (who won the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 race) and the rest of his teammates and crew wore their caps backwards in victory lane as a tribute to Ricky Hendrick, who had a habit of doing the same.[11] At the Hendrick museum in Concord, North Carolina, 300 people showed up for a candlelight vigil in honor of the ten victims.[12]
The Randy Dorton Trophy now goes to the winner of the Mahle Engine Builders Challenge.[13][14]
See also
References
- ^ NTSB. "Controlled Flight Into Terrain, Beech King Air 200, N501RH, Stuart, Virginia, October 24, 2004". Retrieved October 24, 2014.
- ^ "FAA Registry (N501RH)". Federal Aviation Administration.
- ^ The Martinsville Plane Crash, October 25, 2004. Accessed August 9, 2006.
- ^ "Ten die in crash of Hendrick plane". Usatoday.Com. October 26, 2004. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
- ^ Hendrick plane crashes en route to NASCAR race; 10 killed Archived June 28, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Kurz jr, Hank "Hendrick Motorsports Plane Crash Kills 10. Accessed August 11, 2006.
- ^ MSNBC "All 10 bodies located from Hendrick plane crash, Associated Press. Accessed August 11, 2006.
- ^ "NTSB: Hendrick plane did not climb before crash", Associated Press. Accessed August 11, 2006.
- ^ NTSB (2004) NTSB Report on the Crash. Link updated October 15, 2011.
- ^ Clarke, Liz: Washington Post article. Accessed August 11, 2006.
- ^ "Jimmie Johnson nabs poignant win". Associated Press. November 1, 2004. Retrieved September 22, 2006.
- ^ Felix, Ron Tragedy At Hendrick Motorsports Archived September 2, 2006, at the Wayback Machine (insiderracingnews.com). Accessed August 11, 2006.
- ^ Press Release (April 26, 2005). "Engine competition pays tribute to Randy Dorton - Apr 26, 2005". Nascar.Com. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
- ^ "Clevite Engine Parts, NASCAR Technical Institute and Dianne Dorton Team Up to Honor Late Engine Builder Randy Dorton". aftermarket News. May 2, 2005. Archived from the original on December 4, 2010. Retrieved August 9, 2012.