Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his wife Amy escaped serious injury after a private plane they were riding in ran off the runway at Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Tennessee Thursday.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed a Cessna Citation with the tail number N8JR crashed at the small airport, which is located about three hours northwest of Charlotte. It also said there were a total of five passengers onboard at the time, including two pilots and three passengers. Dale’s dog was also on board, allegedly.
Kelly Earnhardt, sister of the famous former NASCAR driver and current team owner, sent out a tweet to notify fans that he and his wife were unhurt in the accident.
NEW: Video shows thick, black smoke rising from the site of a small plane crash that was carrying Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his family. Everyone on board, including Earnhardt, escaped the wreck, said the local sheriff. https://t.co/2nqljR6C5C pic.twitter.com/noizctpZVk
— ABC News (@ABC) August 15, 2019
Earnhardt was likely flying into the region for this weekend’s various NASCAR festivities at Bristol Motor Speedway in nearby Bristol, Tennessee. Earnhardt serves as a NASCAR Cup Series analyst and his JR Motorsports team also runs cars in the second-tier NASCAR Xfinity Series.
A representative for the local fire department said Earnhardt “was having a little trouble,” after the crash and said he was transported non-emergency to a nearby medical center. He was allegedly released few hours later.
Steve Letarte, who commentates on NASCAR races alongside Earnhardt on MSNBC, also spoke on the situation today, confirming that he would not appear in the booth this weekend at Bristol.
“Up in the booth, I miss him already, but I’m excited for whenever he chooses to come back up here and call some races with us,” Letarte said. “But, more than anything, I was very thankful for the opportunity, after such a scary situation, to just see them and know they really were OK.”
“Now they’re together, resting, recovering and processing the situation,” he added.
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Comments
Live to dream.. someone has some serious explaining to do, running off a runway in the middle of a rain storm is one thing; but running off the runway on a sunny afternoon suggest pilot error or aircraft malfunction.
Well those are basically the only 2 options so your probably right !
Actually both. It hit the ground too hard and reports are the right gear collapsed. No gear not tires no brakes. Then you slide 1000 feet till the highways wall stopped them.
They were lucky the end of the runway was clear. Thurmond Munson of the Yankees died in a similar crash before the run way and field in the fire pinned. He hit a tree stump on the approach in the same kind of plane.
I am just glad all were save not often you walk away from these.
Maybe it’s a sign/time to get back in the car?
Long live The “Intimidator”!
THANK GOD NO ONE WAS HURT,DONT WANT ANYONE TO GET HURT IN AN ACCIDENT!
By the looks of it all are so lucky, blessed, however you want to spell it. His family are icon and looked up to. Everyone have a great night.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., famed NASCAR driver, and his wife were involved in a private jet crash in east Tennessee and escaped serious injury, officials said Thursday.