All five people and a dog survived after the Cessna Citation crashed as pilots attempted to land in August at Elizabethton Municipal Airport, Tennessee.
Both Earnhardt and the pilots told NTSB investigators that the correct landing gear appeared to have collapsed during a crash landing. The former driver, who was recently voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, tried to open an emergency door with the help of driver Richard “Mike” Pope, but was unable to get it working.
Earnhardt also tried to open the rear hatch. He told pilot Jeff Melton to test the cockpit door again.
According to a statement by Earnhardt and his wife to accident investigators, smoke was coming out of the bathroom and flames were visible.
“They reported that Mr. Melton opened the door to the main cabin just enough to get out. Mr. Earnhardt then handed over his daughter (15 months old), who was in his arms, to the pilot, and then (Earnhardt and his wife) each squeezed the opening. He believed the opening was the size of a conventional oven. “
Airport security video showed the accident. The plane bounced when it first landed and on another touchdown, the right landing gear collapsed and the wingtip came into contact with the runway, according to the NTSB review summary.
After leaving the runway, the plane went down a hill by 400 feet, even crossed a 25-foot-wide stream bed before sliding down a hill, through a wire fence, and stopping at the edge of a road.
The rear of the cabin suffered major fire damage, the document says.
The report says all three Earnhardts were slightly injured. The pilots were not injured.
Witness Cheryl Campbell told the NTSB that she saw the accident and went to help.
Earnhardt was “fighting and not walking,” he said. “He tried to get up and couldn’t.”
She said Earnhardt kept asking if her family was okay and told her that her back hurt.
Pope told investigators that he was the pilot in charge, and that he had flown to Elizabethton Airport earlier.
He told the NTSB that he would normally wait until the plane was grounded before deploying thrust reversers that help brake an aircraft, but in this case, he could have deployed them too fast.
The NTSB’s determination of the reason for the accident will come later in its final report.
Earnhardt, a team owner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and a television analyst, was on his way to NASCAR events at Bristol Motor Speedway, which is about 15 miles from the airport.
He retired from racing full-time after the 2017 season after approximately two dozen concussions.
That year, Earnhardt, now 45, was voted NASCAR’s most popular driver for the 15th consecutive year. He won 26 times in the Cup.
Earnhardt, son of the late NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, had survived a terrifying and fiery crash while running.
In 2004, he was driving during a practice session in an American Le Mans Series race at Sonoma Raceway in California. After an apparently innocent vehicle accident, Earnhardt’s car suddenly caught fire and engulfed his yellow Corvette in flames. In multiple interviews since that accident, Earnhardt credits a spirit being for getting him out of the fire to safety.
CNN’s Dave Alsup contributed to this report.
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