confirm downed Hendrick Motorsports plane

Report of plane crash near Bull Mountain

Radio traffic indicates a plane crash occurred around 11:45am this morning in the Stuart, Patrick Springs, Bull Mountain area.
Sketchy information at this hour indicates the plane was headed to the Blue Ridge Airport in Spencer and with six occupants including the pilot.
Helicopters are now flying over the area trying to find the downed aircraft. We have just learned one of the racing team helicopters has now joined in the search.
Update 1 - 2:51pm: A helicopter has located the signal of the emergency locating transmitter of the downed aircraft, but due to extreme fog, they are unable to see the plane.
Update 2 - 2:52pm: State Police have determined the coordinates and are dispatching four-wheelers to the scene.
Update 3 - 2:53pm: A break in the fog has allowed the helicopter crew to get a visual on the crash scene. They report "there does not appear to be any survivors."
Update 4 - 3:30pm: Unconfirmed... the plane is alleged to be owned by Hendrick Motorsports and was headed to Martinsville for today's race.
Update 5 - 3:40pm: Fire and rescue have been advised to seal the entire area off to all media.
Update 6 - 5:13pm: The FFA and the NTSB has confirmed the downed plane was owned by Hendrick Motorsports and took off from Concord, NC. Officials have confirmed everyone onboard was killed, but no names have been released.
Update 7 - 5:23pm: We have received a partial list of the deceased. They are: Ricky Hendrick, John Hendrick, Kimberly Hendrick, Jennifer Hendrick, Len Morrison, and Scott Latham. Again, this is a partial list and remains unconfirmed, although the source of the information comes from the Martinsville Speedway. i will add more when they add more to this on the martinsville web site

 

Update 8 - 6:08pm: We have now learned unofficially that Randy Dorton and Joe Jackson were on the plane, again there were no survivors.
Update 9 - 6:10pm: We have now received this official confirmation from the FAA:

The FAA confirms everyone on board was killed. The list of passengers is as follows: Ricky Hendrick, John Hendrick, Kimberley Hendrick, Jennifer Hendrick, Dick Tracy, Joe Jackson, Liz Morrison, Jeff Turner, Randy Dorton, and Scott Lathum.

 

I was watching the Cowboys game with the sound off and my closed captioning was going by and I wasn't paying close attention but caught the tail end of something about the announcers on the game saying their hearts went out to everyone at NASCAR!

This is just TRAGIC NEWS! I am SO sorry to hear this.



Maggie

 

same here
Update 10 - 6:49pm: We have received the following information regarding the relationship of the planes passengers to the Hendrick Racing Team... John Hendrick was team owner Rick Hendrick's brother. Ricky Hendrick was his son. Kimberly Hendrick and Jennifer Hendrick were twin sisters, Dick Tracey and Liz Morrison were the pilots, Jeff Turner was the VP and General Manager of Hendrick Motorsports. Randy Dorton was an engine builder for the company.

my heart does go out for all of the people of nascar

 

some things are just not right..

 

that sucks, so was he devorced or was the wife just not on the plane? my heart really goes out to her if she just wasn't on the plane.

eric

 

Go to
www.nascar.com for more information on the crash.
What a thing to happen just as a Hendrick driver,Jimmie Johnson was winning the race.

 

didn't his cars place 1,3,5? thats what i heard. don't really watch racing though.

eric

 

this is what i just got off the martinsville site is as follows
Bull Mountain plane crash takes lives of 10 related to Hendrick Motorsports and Nascar

A Beach twin-engine aircraft owned by Hendrick Motorsports took off from Concord, N.C. and crashed in the Bull Mountain area of Patrick County, about seven miles west of the Blue Ridge Airport in Spencer at about 12:30pm today. Federal officials confirm all 10 people aboard died.

Radio traffic about the incident began around 11:45am. A helicopter pilot receiving directions from an official atop a fire tower reported picking up the signal from the emergency locating transmitter of the downed plane at 2:51pm. State Police immediately dispatched four-wheelers to the coordinates provided by the pilot. At 2:53pm the pilot reported a visual of the wreckage saying "there does not appear to be any survivors." Officials on the scene reported heavy, dense fog in the area reducing visibility to near zero in places.

Shortly after the Nascar race at the Martinsville Speedway ended the FAA issued the following statement:

"The FAA confirms everyone on board was killed. The list of passengers is as follows: Ricky Hendrick, John Hendrick, Kimberley Hendrick, Jennifer Hendrick, Dick Tracy, Joe Jackson, Liz Morrison, Jeff Turner, Randy Dorton, and Scott Lathum."

John Hendrick was team owner Rick Hendrick's brother. Ricky Hendrick was Rick Hendrick's son. Kimberly Hendrick and Jennifer Hendrick were John's twin daughters, Dick Tracey and Liz Morrison were the pilots, Jeff Turner was the VP and General Manager of Hendrick Motorsports. Randy Dorton was an engine builder for the company. Scott Lathum was racecar driver Tony Stewart's pilot.

Bull Mountain has limited accessibility and is noted as having some of the roughest terrain in the area. Investigators will arrive tonight, but will not begin their search until sometime Monday.

Moody Funeral Home in Stuart has been designated to receive the bodies after they were extracted from the scene of the crash

 

Bodies of plane crash victims not yet recovered

Many fire and rescue workers have been on the scene of today's plane crash for nearly 10 hours. Responders are being told to "stand down" at this hour and await backup that has begun arriving at this hour.
We have confirmed that the bodies have not yet been recovered and likely will not be until sometime tomorrow. The crash site is approximately 20 minutes by four-wheeler from the end of a dirt road passable only by a four-wheel drive. Eye-witnesses returning from the scene tell us that there was limited fire upon impact and the plane landed upside down.
The last crash on Bull Mountain took crews seven days to recover the bodies. A bulldozer is clearing a path to the crash scene tonight in preparation for tomorrow's efforts.

 

Five bodies recovered from plane wreckage, five missing

Rescue crews on all-terrain vehicles have recovered five bodies from the wreckage of a Hendrick Motorsports plane in which 10 people were killed in a crash on Sunday. The bodies recovered at the scene are to be taken to Roanoke for identification. Workers are trying to find the remaining five bodies.

The National Transportation Safety Board began its investigation Monday. Investigators say they don't know what caused the Beech 200 King Air to crash as it approached the airport at Martinsville. The plane departed from Concord.

Air safety investigator Brian Rayner said the plane struck a steep incline in heavy fog. Rayner says tapes of any communication between the pilot and the FAA have been requested by air traffic specialists and would be reviewed Monday.

Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell released a statement Monday about the crash:

"I speak for everyone at Martinsville Speedway when I say we are deeply shocked and saddened by Sunday's losses. Our prayers and thoughts go out to the families and employees. And we will keep them in our prayers and hearts in the coming days." (Photos by Danny Turner) (10/25/04)

 

A seven-person "Go" team with the National Transportation Safety Board spent most of Monday on Bull Mountain's steep, wooded slope, trying to reconstruct the fatal crash.

The plane apparently barreled horizontally about 100 feet through trees, leaving a crater where it struck the mountain. The plane's wreckage scattered up the steep slope for about 100 feet and caught fire. Investigators still don't know the cause of the crash. The investigation will resume this morning. The plane did not have a ground proximity system, a flight date recorder or a cockpit voice recorder.

Despite heavy fog and low-lying clouds, which made visibility poor when the crash occurred, officials are saying it would be premature to assume that weather caused the accident. The Federal Aviation Administration's lowest permitted ceiling, or the distance from the ground to the clouds at the Blue Ridge airport, is between 400 and 500 feet, depending on which approach a pilot takes. According to the National Weather Service, the ceiling at the airport was 600 feet at about the time of the crash. Visibility at the airport was five miles; the minimum visibility required for a safe landing at Blue Ridge is between 1 and 1 3/4 miles, depending on the type of aircraft. Between 30 and 40 other private airplanes had already made the landing for Sunday's race when the crash occurred. (Photo courtesy of Reuters) (10/26/04)

 

anyword on the other 5 bodies?

eric

 

oh i guess i forgot to post this yesterday befor i went to sleep all ten was found yesterday

 

as long as they found all the bodies, gives the family total closure. still a terrible accident and loss.

eric

 

Hendrick Motortsports Tribute

A wonderful page from nascar.com

It is full of information, and tributes.

My prayers are with the Hendrick family, and all the others in the Nascar community who where effected by this tragedy.



cooked

 

Hendrick Motorsports Team Pays Tribute To Fallen Friends

Jimmie Johnson wins and celebrates the lives of fallen friends