Dale Earnhardt Jr. and a pilot struggled to open the emergency exit to the wing of a crashed plane when the plane started to burn and fill with smoke before the retired race car driver and his family managed to escape the front door, according to new details about the 2019 accident released by the National Transportation and Safety Board.
Documents released Thursday by the NTSB provide statements from pilots, passengers, and witnesses about the August 15, 2019 plane crash at an airport in Elizabethton, Tenn.
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Earnhardt, a NASCAR television analyst and retired driver, was with his wife Amy, their 15-month-old daughter Isla, two pilots, and the family dog when his Cessna Citation Latitude crashed. The NTSB said three passengers suffered minor injuries.
In a preliminary report, NTSB investigators said part of the landing gear collapsed and a section of the right wing hit the runway when the plane bounced twice before landing a third time with approximately 1,000 feet of paved surface remaining.
The plane went through a wire fence before stopping at the edge of Tennessee Highway 91.
Pilot Richard Pope told the NTSB he was carrying extra speed on the runway approach because the plane “slows down very easily,” according to a summary of the pilots’ statements to the NTSB.
Pope said the initial landing was “quite hard” and that the plane went off the runway. The flight crew reported that thrust reversers, which help an airplane slow down during landing, were applied after the first landing.
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Pilot Jeffrey Melton said that after increasing thrust, “power never comes,” the NTSB reported.
“After they tried to increase the power, and they didn’t feel the power coming, the power idled and the thrust reversers were applied again when the plane landed the third time,” the report said.
Earnhardt and the two pilots were unable to open the emergency exit door over the wing after the plane stopped, according to the report.
“As they tried to open the rear exit door, smoke was coming out of the bathroom,” the report said. “Sir. Earnhardt reported that he told Mr. Melton to test the door to the main cabin. At this time the fire was now visible in the bathroom.”
Melton then opened the main cabin door just enough to get out.
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“Earnhardt then handed his daughter, who was in his arms, to the pilot, and then each one squeezed the opening,” which was about the size of a conventional oven, according to the report.
Witness Cheryl Campbell told the NTSB in a written statement that she was driving when she saw the rear of the plane burst into flames after it crashed. In her statement, Campbell said she had served in the Air Force and had been a flight attendant for a major airline for two decades.
Campbell told investigators that he ran to the aircraft and saw a man who was not wearing a uniform “fighting and not walking.” Campbell said he asked the man for his name, but did not directly identify Earnhardt.
“He tried to get up and couldn’t and was asking if his wife and son were out and well,” Campbell wrote. “I assured him that he had checked on his wife and son and that they were both fine. I also told him that his dog was fine when he asked. “
A final report from the NTSB has not been released.
