NTSB: Flight crew error led to Hendrick plane crash

openwheelracer · Admin/Mod/Eyewitness

NTSB: Flight crew error led to Hendrick plane crash

openwheelracer · Admin/Mod/Eyewitness

From Jayski.com:

Hendrick Motorsports PLane Crash - lawuit filed: The wife of one of the people who died in the Hendrick plane crash has filed a new lawsuit that places partial blame for the crash on John Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports. Those allegations come from Diane Dorton, who claims Hendrick's desire to get to the race on time may have contributed to the deaths of the ten people in that crash. In a claim she filed on behalf of husband Randy Dorton she claims there were a sequence of events leading up to the crash that could have been avoided. She also claims that they could have also chosen not to go at all. Randy Dorton called Diane on the morning of October 2, 2004. The conversation involved Randy's delay flying to the Subway 500 race in Martinsville. Randy built engines for NASCAR and for Hendrick race teams. Dianne said Randy told her he was supposed to fly by helicopter, but the helicopter was grounded due to bad weather. They'd fly in a Hendrick Motorsports plane instead. Randy waited in the Hendrick hangar for more than an hour. He called Dianne and told her he didn’t think they'd go. He called 47 minutes later and said "we're going." It's not clear who gave the go order for the trip. It's an alleged conversation between pilot Richard Tracy and Hendrick Motorsports president John Hendrick that's part of a negligence and misconduct lawsuit against Hendrick Motorsports.
The suit claims Tracy proposed flying to Danville instead of the Blue Ridge airport due to the weather and that Hendrick said that option was unacceptable because they'd be too far from the track and late for the race. Danville is farther away from the track than Blue Ridge. "He told us that and I feel certain that he would stay by what he said," said David Burgess, Dianne Dorton's attorney. Burgess said the grounded helicopter pilot was part of that conversation and could be called to testify. A separate lawsuit against Hendrick Motorsports alleges at least 27 other planes aborted landings at Blue Ridge due to weather. Diane said the lawsuit isn't about money. She said it's about finding the truth about what happened to Randy, what happened onboard the plane, addressing accountability and making future airplane travel safer for her friends in NASCAR. Monday Diane and another Hendrick crash widow, Linda Turner, boarded a flight to Washington DC. Tuesday they'll hear what the NTSB says caused the crash. 6NEWS asked Hendrick Motorsports for their side of this story. They refused, saying they can't talk about a legal matter.(wncn.com)(2-7-2006)

openwheelracer · Admin/Mod/Eyewitness

For more from Nascar.com, click on the link below:

http://aolsvc.sports.aol.nascar.com/2006/news/headlines/cup/02/08/bc.car.hendrick.lawsuit.ap/index.html

openwheelracer · Admin/Mod/Eyewitness

From Jayski.com:

Rick Hendrick comments on lawsuit: Car Owner Rick Hendrick made these comments Saturday afternoon at Daytona in response to those recently made by Diane Dorton, wife of Randy Dorton, Hendrick's head engine builder and one of ten people killed in the Hendrick Motorsports plane crash in October 2004. Others who died included Rick's 24-year-old son Ricky Hendrick, John Hendrick and his 22-year-old twin daughters Kymberly and Jennifer, Hendrick Motorsports General Manager Jeff Turner, Dupont Executive Joe Black, Scott Lathram, a pilot for driver Tony Stewart, along with the plane's pilots Dick Tracy and Liz Morrison. Mrs. Dorton has filed a lawsuit alleging the plane took off in bad weather because John Hendrick was in too much of a hurry and was unwilling to land at another airport other than the Blue Ridge Airport near Martinsville, Virginia.

"Everybody who had family members on that flight suffered a lot. You know when you look at the pilots and how they were trained and what went on that day, you know it's just disappointing somebody takes things out of context and the facts aren't accurate. I know my brother (John Hendrick) was a white-knuckle flyer, and he had his two daughters on that plane and they waited an hour for the weather to clear. You know the plane landed in front of them and there was a plane that was going behind them that anyone could have gone on to if they wanted to. So, for someone to take a shot at him is totally disappointing and hurtful to my family - my mother, his wife and child.

Then, for Diane to say that we turned our back on her or nobody helped her. I paid Randy's (Dorton) bonus in '04, paid him six months in '05. She's got a BMW. I paid her insurance. We had someone there helping her night and day. I met with her anytime she wanted to. You have insurance and to take care of people and that's what it's for. I don't understand the attack on my brother. Thought it was a cheap shot, disappointing and the facts we not true. The other statement about not getting any help is totally..when you've done as much as we've done and someone makes that kind of comment that's hurtful and disappointing. You know everybody suffered. It was a sad deal. It was an accident. Greensboro (air traffic controllers) made a mistake, the pilots made a mistake and everybody is hurt a lot. It's just really disappointing when you do the best you can and someone grandstands and doesn't get the facts straight."

"My brother was a white-knuckle flyer, he was very afraid. He cancelled a lot of trips because he really didn't really like to fly. He had his two girls on the plane and one of the statements she (Diane Dorton) made he said "we got to go to that airport (Blue Ridge)" which is totally false. You know they waited an hour and he said, and I've talked to people, there were other pilots there (that heard John Hendrick say) "hey if we can't get in we'll just stay home." So, they wait an hour. A plane lands in front of them, meaning things were okay and they go up there. Two well-trained, as good as we've had, I've flown with those two pilots all the time and they simply made a mistake. The weather was not great and Greensboro made a mistake, they didn't alert them they were off course and it happened. That's something I live with. I've got a six month old granddaughter that will never know here dad. You know it's been hurtful to everybody, everybody lost and suffered. Accidents happen and we just have to go on."

"You can do a lawsuit but you don't have to personally attack my family, my brother and you don't have to say the company hadn't helped when we've broken our back and been there and done things. Those are the two items that bother me. Lawsuits don't bother me I mean that's against the insurance company and that's why we have insurance. But when you attack my family personally, when we've done everything we can, I think, I was very disappointed in Diane and I think it was uncalled for and not accurate."

Q) Hendrick's response to being asked about the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report that cited pilot error as the main reason for the crash:
"They didn't mention as much about the failure of the Greensboro controllers didn't tell the pilots they were too low or off course. I was happy to hear them say that they graded our flight department on a scale of nine and we got a nine. Our guys try to do the best they can and we do everything we can to make it as safe as possible. Accidents happen, they happen all the time. The pilots were doing the best job they could. They were as trained as well as they could have been and had a lot of experience in bad weather. In our planes the pilots always make the decision when it's time to go and when to divert. Like I said my brother…. had a couple of pilots call me that fly him all the time and say we've cancelled numerous trips when the weather wasn't good and he'd drive and get his daughters. He had both of his daughters on that plane so that was just, I don't know what is was, a cheap shot and it wasn't true. The facts are the facts and they'll come out.

Q) As to what changes they've made in regards to the team's flight plans:
"We'll do the best we can to be safe and try to go into larger airports that have towers and so forth, but it could happen in a van going to the airport so accidents just happen. I think everybody does the best they can and that's what I live with. My wife has helped me a lot there she's said God has a plan and we have to accept it. It's hard and it hurts and you live with it every minute of every day there's something that reminds you of your friends and family. Life is never the same after one of those but that's just the way it is."(PRN's Garage Pass)(2-11-2006)

see news on the lawsuit and the NTSB's findings on my Hendrick Tragedy page.

openwheelracer · Admin/Mod/Eyewitness

From Jayski.com:

Settlement reached in Turner suit against Hendrick: Attorneys for Linda Turner have informed U.S. District Court in North Carolina that she has reached a settlement in her wrongful death lawsuit against Hendrick Motorsports and its pilots stemming from the death of her husband, team general manager Jeff Turner, in the Oct 24, 2004, accident that killed 10 people on the way to the race in Martinsville, Va. The terms of the settlement are confidential, and the court still must approve the settlement. The settlement provides for an equal distribution of settlement proceeds among Linda and her three children. Turner also has sued the U.S. government over the actions of the air-traffic controllers. That suit is still pending, as are two other suits from widows Dianne Dorton and Tracy Lathram against Hendrick Motorsports.(Scenedaily.com)(1-13-2007)

openwheelracer · Admin/Mod/Eyewitness

From Jayski.com:

Court approves Turner-Hendrick settlement: A U.S. District Court judge has approved a settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit of Hendrick Motorsports general manager Jeff Turner stemming from the Oct. 24, 2004, plane accident that killed 10 people on the way to the race in Martinsville, Va. Attorneys for widow Linda Turner, the pilots and Hendrick informed the court about six weeks ago that they had agreed to a settlement, and the court approved the settlement Thursday. The terms of the settlement are confidential. The settlement provides for an equal distribution of settlement proceeds among Linda and her three children, according to a filing with the court. Turner also has sued the U.S. government over the actions of the air-traffic controllers. That suit is still pending, as are two other suits from widows Dianne Dorton and Tracy Lathram against Hendrick Motorsports. In those cases, Hendrick Motorsports has filed a third-party claim against the U.S. government and the actions of the air-traffic controllers. The National Transportation Safety Board has determined that pilot error was the primary cause of the accident.(SceneDaily.com)(3-2-2007)