Hendrick Plane Crash Update.

BobbyFord

BobbyFord

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This was a very sad day.


NTSB: Flight crew error led to Hendrick plane crash that killed ten: The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has ruled that flight crew error is the probable cause of the plane crash near Martinsville than killed ten people in October 2004. The NTSB ruled today the crew failed to properly execute the published instrument approach procedure at Blue Ridge Airport [VA]. The Hendrick Motorsports plane crashed into the side of Bull Mountain in Patrick County after attempted a landing at the airport. All ten people aboard were killed, a loss felt across the entire NASCAR family. Investigators say navigational confusion involving the plane's GPS readings led the crew to approach the airport well above the typical altitude and descend to landing altitude almost seven miles past the airport. At that point, the plane began to climb, and had it turned to the right instead of remaining on a generally straight course, it still would have avoided Bull Mountain. Such a right turn is the standard missed approach procedure employed at the airport. The plane was attempting to bring members of the Hendrick family and company employees for that day's race at Martinsville Speedway.(wdbj7.com)(2-7-2006)
 
Agreed, Eagle1. While I had no doubt that this would be the conclusion of the NTSB, I still think that these smaller airports should be manned by at least ONE controller when there will be a large number of landings and take-offs at these smaller airports. It just points to common sense of public safety.
 
yea, the municipal airport out here is VERY busy and theres no tower of any kind...
 
The wife of Randy Dorton has filed a lawsuit and from what has been said so far it does not look like this is going to be a very pretty event in the courtroom:


Lawsuit filed

Valid questions that must be answered.
 
Trying to keep all due reverence for the deceased... This is one place where our system has failed us.. There should be a set amount due each person that dies and/or is badly injured from a mistake made by others.. Sure it is pilot error.. So? Each of us takes a chance of hurting others or being hurt by others every day. This suing crap needs to stop and the time and money wasted put to better use..
Each of our lives should be worth the SAME amount! No matter who you are or how you are accidentally killed.. If the worst happens there should be an immediate $??? paid and then it is OVER... Too many lawyers and too many courts.. Pain and suffering my A$$! We all takes our chances.
Betsy
 
Where would that money come from? And if we all take "chances", why should anyone be paid?
 
Betsy said:
Trying to keep all due reverence for the deceased... This is one place where our system has failed us.. There should be a set amount due each person that dies and/or is badly injured from a mistake made by others.. Sure it is pilot error.. So? Each of us takes a chance of hurting others or being hurt by others every day. This suing crap needs to stop and the time and money wasted put to better use..
Each of our lives should be worth the SAME amount! No matter who you are or how you are accidentally killed.. If the worst happens there should be an immediate $??? paid and then it is OVER... Too many lawyers and too many courts.. Pain and suffering my A$$! We all takes our chances.
Betsy
Click to expand...


she's only sueing the estates of the pilots for 10k...thats not a lot.

what about future wages that person could have earned? you dont think that when someone is killed the family of the deased does not have the right to seek the future earnings their loved one would have recieved if someone else wouldnt have caused their deaths?...i have a feeling im going to get slapped around for this statement...but i personally feel that if your loved one's life is taken from them because of someone else's doing you should be able to collet the money that your loved one would have collected if they were still alive.


however...not sure i can agree with whats going on here...considering the pilots are dead as well....but at least she is suing their estates and not their family members.
 
Betsy said:
Trying to keep all due reverence for the deceased... This is one place where our system has failed us.. There should be a set amount due each person that dies and/or is badly injured from a mistake made by others.. Sure it is pilot error.. So? Each of us takes a chance of hurting others or being hurt by others every day. This suing crap needs to stop and the time and money wasted put to better use..
Each of our lives should be worth the SAME amount! No matter who you are or how you are accidentally killed.. If the worst happens there should be an immediate $??? paid and then it is OVER... Too many lawyers and too many courts.. Pain and suffering my A$$! We all takes our chances.
Betsy
Click to expand...

Betsy, how can anyone place a $$$$$ value on a human life? Is my life worth more than my children's? Is there a monetary value to a human life? There are SCUM on this earth that IMHO deserve to die asap, but let the legal system take care of it.
I agree that my life is worth the same as many others, but my children's lives are worth more!
 
We must all remember it was an ACCIDENT! That pilot did not commit suicide.. My comments were directed to suing to get money for accidental death.. When those folks climbed into that airplane they KNEW there was a chance they might crash and die.. Same as when we get on any freeway... there is always a chance an accident will kill or maim us. Not to be confused with MURDER.. Just accidents that might happen at any time.
A 9 year old girl fell off of a float in a parade near hear recently and died on the spot.. this too was simply an accident.. every minute of every day we might die, that is what life is all about.
As for who's life is worth more? Why would one be worth more than another? Death insurance is available to us all. If ones death would be catastrophic to the family's income then that person should have insurance to cover the families needs.
Betsy
 
Betsy said:
We must all remember it was an ACCIDENT! That pilot did not commit suicide.. My comments were directed to suing to get money for accidental death.. When those folks climbed into that airplane they KNEW there was a chance they might crash and die.. Same as when we get on any freeway... there is always a chance an accident will kill or maim us. Not to be confused with MURDER.. Just accidents that might happen at any time.
A 9 year old girl fell off of a float in a parade near hear recently and died on the spot.. this too was simply an accident.. every minute of every day we might die, that is what life is all about.
As for who's life is worth more? Why would one be worth more than another? Death insurance is available to us all. If ones death would be catastrophic to the family's income then that person should have insurance to cover the families needs.
Betsy
Click to expand...
Very seldom do I agree with you, or really understand what you're trying to say, but I do in this case.
 
Looks like one more jumped on the ol bandwagon.


Widows file lawsuits over Hendrick plane crash
The Associated Press
February 8, 2006
04:04 PM EST (21:04 GMT)


CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- The widows of two men killed in the Hendrick Motorsports plane crash in 2004 sued the company, contending negligence.

Hendrick Motorsports showed "conscious and intentional disregard" for Randy Dorton's safety, Dorton's widow, Dianne, said, according to a complaint filed in Lincoln County. Dorton ran Hendrick Motorsports' engine program.

Dianne Dorton said the company didn't respond to her requests for help after the crash and the lawsuit was "just an insurance issue."

The lawsuit, filed in December, seeks compensation for what Dorton would have earned during his lifetime, said Willow Mehrtens, a paralegal in the office of Dorton's attorney, David Burgess. She said Wednesday the amount was in "seven figures."

The plane crashed near Martinsville, Va., in October 2004, killing 10 people, including Scott Lathram, a helicopter pilot for driver Tony Stewart.

Lathram's widow, Tracy, filed a lawsuit in Mecklenburg County that claims that at least 27 other aircraft scratched plans to land at the Martinsville airport on Oct. 24 because of bad weather.

Dianne Dorton's lawsuit contends Hendrick Motorsports was liable in Randy Dorton's death because it allowed the plane to fly to Martinsville instead of another airport.

Hendrick Motorsports spokesman Jesse Essex said company employees may not comment on active legal cases.



Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
 
It was pilot errror plain and simple.. Hendrick had nothing to do with the crash.. Them folks trusted the pilot to fly safely and he thought he was.. just a mistake on his part. How can we get money from Hendrick for a mistake.. Them folks better not get ME on the jury.
Betsy
 
Hendrick: Dorton's widow fired 'cheap shot'
Team owner says company has done plenty to help family
By David Newton, NASCAR.COM
February 11, 2006
08:35 PM EST (01:35 GMT)


DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Nextel Cup team owner Rick Hendrick on Saturday called recent comments made by the widow of one of his employees killed in a 2004 plane crash near Martinsville Speedway a "cheap shot.''

Dianne Dorton, the widow of Hendrick chief engine builder Randy Dorton, said Hendrick Motosports showed "conscious and intentional disregard'' for her husband's safety in a lawsuit filed last month.

Dorton also said the company did not respond to her requests for help after the October crash and contended that Hendrick Motorsports was liable in Randy's death because it allowed the plane to fly to Martinsville in unfavorable weather conditions.

The lawsuit claimed that Hendrick's brother, John, who also was killed in the crash, overruled the pilot's decision to divert to another airport.

"For Dianne to say we turned our back on her or nobody helped her ... , '' said Hendrick, who also lost his son in the crash that took 10 lives. "I paid Randy's bonus in '04. I paid him six months in '05. She got a BMW. I paid her insurance. There was someone there helping her night and day and available to meet with her any time she wanted to.

"I don't understand the attack on my brother. I thought it was a cheap shot and disappointing and not true.''

Hendrick, in the media room at Daytona International Speedway to promote driver Jimmie Johnson's new foundation that kicks off today with an eBay auction, called Dorton's comments "hurtful and disappointing.''

"This accident was probably the most hurtful thing that ever happened to anybody and everybody that had family on those planes,'' he said. "They suffered a lot.''

Hendrick said his brother wasn't one to take chances, and that he'd canceled a lot of flights "because he didn't like to fly.''

The National Transportation Safety Board blamed the accident on pilot error, saying the pilots probably used a satellite-based Global Positioning System instead of local navigational aids.

The board said the pilots likely misinterpreted the GPS data, making them believe they were five miles short of the cloud-covered airport instead of flying over it and toward a mountain.

"It's disappointing that somebody takes things out of context and the facts aren't accurate,'' Hendrick said. "I know that my brother was a white-knuckle flier and he had his two daughters on that plane and they waited an hour for the weather to clear.

"The plane landed in front of them. There was a plane that landed behind them and anybody could have gone if they wanted to. For somebody to take a shot at him is totally disappointing and hurtful to my family, my mother, his wife and child.''
 
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