Posted on 10/24/2004 2:14:55 PM PDT by halosfan2002
http://www.martinsvilledaily.com/
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.
We'll have further updates regarding this story as it becomes available. (10/24/04)
ping
Not the kind of aviation I like to ping.
bttt
I don't know that Rick Hendrick or the Hendrick organization will ever recover from this. It's tearing my guts out, and all I am is a 24/48 fan.
Plane Crash Kills 10, Including Son Of NASCAR Owner
POSTED: 4:46 pm EDT October 24, 2004
UPDATED: 5:30 pm EDT October 24, 2004
The son of NASCAR owner Rick Hendrick was among 10 people killed Sunday when a small plane headed from Concord to Martinsville crashed in Patrick County in Virginia.
Ricky Hendrick, a former NASCAR driver, died in the incident. John Hendrick, Rick's brother, and Kimberly and Jennifer Hendrick, John's twin daughters, also died in the crash.
The plane was en route to Martinsville Speedway for Sunday's Subway 500. Jimmie Johnson was driving the Hendrick car in the race and was the winner.
Officials reportedly lost contact with the plane at about 12:30.
The names of the other people who died in the crash are: Dick Tracey, pilot, Liz Morrison, pilot, Joe Jackson, Jeff Turner, the VP and General Manager of Hendrick Motorsports, Randy Dorton and Scott Latham.
We will have more on this story at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.
That's a lot of last names the same. God bless the family.
/john
Meanwhile over at NASCAR.com, they have nothing about this tragedy. It appears to be business as usual. Of course, it takes awhile for their page to load on my older computer, so maybe they had a small blurb somewhere. NASCAR is hopeless.
Well, they may just be in shock. This is so sad.
Like you I've tried NASCAR.com -- twice. I have DSL so the pages load quickly... Nothing there I could find, although Johnson's win is posted. I charitably assumed they wanted to have absolutely firm information before posting anything, out of respect for Hendrick and family, but am surprised they don't at least have the report of the crash up by now.
Look at #41. They actually had this up for a while and then I guess they took it down.
Nascar.com just plain sucks anyway. I get my racing news from Thatsracin.com
My condolences to the Hendrick Motor Sports teams. Such a sad tragedy.
Ditto. They are all about business and putting a "good face" on everything.
Never any trouble or problems in NASCAR land according to them. < /sarcasm >
They were about ten NM off course if they were going to the Blue Ridge airport [MTV] near Martinsville.
Damn...
"Beech 200"
That's a King Air 200. Seats 8-12 depending on configuration. Great airplane, very popular all over the world.
Terribly sad news.
Prayers going upward now for all who loved them.
Certainly a lot of small plane crashes lately.
Go figure. :-/
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