Revealed: What Really Happened in the Dale Earnhardt Jr Plane Crash?

Back in August 2019, former NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr had a massive scare. He and his family were involved in a plane crash at Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Tennessee.

Now, the latest report on the incident suggests that a pilot error was the primary culprit for the accident. This report came from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) after an investigation.

Apparently, the plane that carried Dale Earnhardt, wife Amy, and daughter Isla, suffered a hard landing and crashed. The good news was that the trio came away from the accident with only minor injuries.

According to the NTSB, “The pilot’s continuation of an unstabilized approach despite recognizing associated cues and the flight crew’s decision not to initiate a go-around before touchdown, which resulted in a bounced landing, a loss of airplane control, a landing gear collapse, and a runway excursion.

“Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to deploy the speed brakes during the initial touchdown, which may have prevented the runway excursion, and the pilot’s attempt to go around after deployment of the thrust reversers.”

What else happened in the Dale Earnhardt Jr plane accident?

In simpler terms, the landing attempt failed, and the pilot turned around for a second attempt. It is also interesting to note that the flight crew observed that the plane was flying too fast. In other words, the plane itself was approaching the landing far too quickly for anyone’s liking.

The report further stated, “The pilot did not extend the speedbrakes upon touchdown, which landing checklist required, but instead attempted to deploy the thrust reversers immediately after touchdown, which was a later item on the landing checklist.”

As a result, the Cessna 680A Citation Latitude bounced twice when it landed on the 5,001-foot runaway. It took four touchdown attempts to get the plane to the ground at last.

Unfortunately, the Cessna’s right main landing gear collapsed and things went south from there. It skidded off the road and plowed through a 400-foot area of grass.

All this was before it went through an embankment, a creek and a chain-link fence. When it finally stopped for good, it was around 600 feet away from the runway and close to a four-lane highway. Luckily, the passengers and the two pilots escaped when the plane caught fire.