2004 Hendrick Motorsports aircraft crash

Crash

The King Air took off from Concord, North Carolina, at 11:57 am EST, carrying eight passengers and two flight crew. At the time, a low level overcast system persisted throughout the region requiring the pilots to shoot the localizer 30 approach. Due to a plane landing ahead of them, the aircraft entered a hold over the initial approach fix BALES at 4,000 ft. Just as the aircraft was turning outbound on the hold, ATC cleared the pilots for the approach and to descend to 2,600 ft. The plane flew over BALES at 4,000 ft and did not begin descending until 2 nm past BALES. The aircraft then passed the MAP at 2,600 ft and reached the MDA of 1,400 ft after overflying the airport by 4 nm. 1 minute and 13 seconds later, the plane began climbing and at 12:33 pm radioed to ATC that it was going missed. 9 seconds later, the aircraft disappeared from radar.

The plane was reported missing at 3:00 pm. Eventually 9-1-1 was called, and fire trucks and police cars patrolled the Virginia area during the race itself. Around midway through the race, a Civil Air Patrol search team patrolling the nearby Bull Mountain's peak found airplane wreckage on the summit. When removing the wreckage from the summit, response teams found the bodies of the Hendrick group at 11:05 pm. Everyone on board had been killed. A search by firefighters also discovered a scar on the mountain of moved dirt; the discovery proved that the airplane crashed on the side of the mountain and the explosion blew the wreckage and group upward.

NASCAR received word of the plane crash halfway through the race at Martinsville. Jimmie Johnson, a Hendrick driver, won the race. Due to the circumstances, the usual victory lane celebration did not take place. Upon the conclusion of the race, NASCAR called all Hendrick personnel to its mobile operations trailer where details of the accident were disclosed to the team.

Investigation

An investigation conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) followed soon after the crash.

Weather

There were foggy conditions at the time of the plane crash.

Pilot error as a cause

The NTSB suggested that pilot error was the cause of the crash, partly by:

• the plane missing its first landing attempt before veering off course and crashing;
• the plane not climbing to its temporarily assigned altitude of 2,600 ft; it instead descended to 1,800 ft before crashing.

The NTSB concluded its investigation by suggesting that the pilots failed to execute an instrument approach procedure and that both failed to use all navigational aids to confirm the airplane's position during its approach.

Aftermath

Impact on Hendrick Motorsports

On February 18, 2005, Marshall Carlson, Rick Hendrick's son-in-law, signed on as new general manager.

Memorials

The week following the crash, officials at the Atlanta Motor Speedway held a moment of silence before both the Busch and Nextel Cup races and lowered the flags to half staff. All the Hendrick Motorsports cars, as well as the No. 0 driven by Ward Burton of Hendrick-affiliated Haas CNC Racing, carried tributes on the hoods for those who were lost the week before. Jimmie Johnson (who won the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 race) and the rest of his teammates and crew wore their caps backwards in victory lane as a tribute to Ricky Hendrick, who had a habit of doing the same. Teams who win in Hendrick Motorsports cars continue the tradition to honor Ricky after every race win. At the Hendrick museum in Concord, North Carolina, 300 people showed up for a candlelight vigil in honor of the ten victims.

The Randy Dorton Trophy now goes to the winner of the Mahle Engine Builders Challenge.

References

References

1. NTSB. "Controlled Flight Into Terrain, Beech King Air 200, N501RH, Stuart, Virginia, October 24, 2004".
2. [https://obdrop.blogspot.com/2004/10/martinsville-plane-crash.html The Martinsville Plane Crash], October 25, 2004. Accessed August 9, 2006.
3. (October 26, 2004). "Ten die in crash of Hendrick plane". Usatoday.Com.
4. https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAB0601.pdf {{Bare URL PDF. (August 2025)
5. [http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/wcnc-102204-ds-nascarplane.1efe8035.html Hendrick plane crashes en route to NASCAR race; 10 killed] {{webarchive. link. (June 28, 2006)
6. Kurz jr, Hank "[http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/motorracing/wire/sns-ap-nascar-hendrick-plane,1,4914452.story Hendrick Motorsports Plane Crash Kills 10]. Accessed August 11, 2006.
7. ''MSNBC'' "[https://web.archive.org/web/20041025073513/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6322690/ All 10 bodies located from Hendrick plane crash], ''Associated Press''. Accessed August 11, 2006.
8. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20041107005639/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/racing/11/05/bc.car.nascar.hendrickp.ap/index.html NTSB: Hendrick plane did not climb before crash]", ''Associated Press''. Accessed August 11, 2006.
9. NTSB (2004) [https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/fulltext/AAB0601.html NTSB Report on the Crash]. Link updated October 15, 2011.
10. Clarke, Liz: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36438-2005Feb18.html ''Washington Post'' article]. Accessed August 11, 2006.
11. (November 1, 2004). "Jimmie Johnson nabs poignant win".
12. Felix, Ron [http://insiderracingnews.com/PR2004/102404f.html Tragedy At Hendrick Motorsports] {{Webarchive. link. (September 2, 2006 (insiderracingnews.com). Accessed August 11, 2006.)
13. Press Release. (April 26, 2005). "Engine competition pays tribute to Randy Dorton - Apr 26, 2005". Nascar.Com.
14. (May 2, 2005). "Clevite Engine Parts, NASCAR Technical Institute and Dianne Dorton Team Up to Honor Late Engine Builder Randy Dorton". aftermarket News.