Update: Dale Earnhardt Jr., family survives plane crash at Elizabethton Municipal Airport
Published 5:41 pm Thursday, August 15, 2019
Contributed PhotoOfficials said burning fuel did end up in a creek, but it has been contianed. Of the fuel they were unable to clean, they had to let the rest of it burn off before they could clean it.
Star Photo/Delaney ScalfAs for Highway 91, County Sheriff Dexter Lunceford said the section of 91 from Elizabethton to Stoney Creek could be closed for the next 24 hours.
Star Photo/Delaney ScalfOfficials across Carter County responded to a plane crash at around 3:30 Thursday afternoon. Passengers included Dale Earnhardt Jr and his family.
STAFF REPORT
At around 3:30 Thursday afternoon, a plane containing Dale Earnhardt Jr. family’s plane ran off the runway of the Elizabethton Municipal Airport and caught fire.
Inside were Earnhardt Jr, his wife, Amy, 15-month-old daughter, Isla, two pilots and the family dog.
Carter County Mayor Russell Barnett said when officials arrived on the scene, the plane was engulfed in flames.
“The plane was fully engulfed,” Barnett said. “There was about 1,000 pounds of fuel.”
That fuel did leak into a nearby creek, but it has been contained.
Elizabethton Fire Chief Barry Carrier said they let the remaining fuel burn itself off.
“Our best course of action is to let the rest burn off,” Carrier said on the scene.
Fuel was still smoking when media arrived about an hour later.
As for the five occupants, officials said all occupants and the family dog escaped the plane relatively quickly. Earnhardt Jr. was taken to the hospital for evaluation and later released.
County deputies almost immediately closed off northbound traffic on Highway 91 as a safety measure, and the road is likely to remain closed for at least the next 24 hours, maybe even two days.
“We were very lucky,” Barnett said.
Officials said a further investigation will be underway into what exactly caused the crash.
