Hendrick plane crash trial could start later this month
More than four years after a Hendrick Motorsports plane crash that killed 10 people on the way to the NASCAR Cup race Oct. 24, 2004, at Martinsville Speedway, lawsuits over who was responsible for the crash could finally go to trial in the next couple of weeks.
A final pretrial conference is set for Friday in cases involving Hendrick Motorsports, the estates of the pilots, the U.S. government and the widows of Hendrick Motorsports engine builder Randy Dorton, general manager Jeff Turner and Tony Stewart pilot Scott Lathram (a passenger on the plane). The trial could start as early as next Monday in U.S. District Court in Winston-Salem, N.C.
At issue is who is responsible for the accident – HMS Holdings (parent company of Hendrick Motorsports), the pilots themselves or the air-traffic controllers. According to court documents, the crash resulted when the pilots overshot the airport by five miles and failed to follow the missed-approach procedure for the Martinsville/Blue Ridge Airport, which requires a climbing right turn to avoid Bull Mountain. The plane, in heavy cloud cover, climbed without turning and crashed into the mountain, killing all 10 aboard.
According to court documents, the government blames Hendrick pilots Richard Tracy and Elizabeth Morrison for failing to follow procedure. Hendrick and the widows believe the government shares some of the responsibility for the actions of the air-traffic controllers. Widow Dianne Dorton’s complaint alleges that the air-traffic controllers did not attempt to contact the pilots even though the plane was descending at 2,500 feet above the end of the runway and continued toward the mountain for more than four minutes until the crash. Hendrick alleges in court documents that the controllers ignored a visual and audible alarm specifically designed to warn them that the aircraft was dangerously close to terrain.
The government alleges that the air-traffic controllers were not responsible because the pilots had been given clearance to land without the use of air-traffic control but instead just by using their instruments; that the pilots were using instruments not certified for such a landing; and that the pilots still could have avoided the accident if they made a climbing right turn once they realized their missed approach.
Hendrick already has settled suits with widows Tracy Lathram and Linda Turner but not with Dorton. It is asking for the government to contribute to those settlements, as well as an out-of-court settlement with the family of DuPont executive Joe Jackson. The estates of the pilots also want the government to contribute to any awards they are liable for.
A judge has already ruled that Dorton cannot bring a claim against Hendrick Motorsports because it is a workers compensation issue, but she is bringing a separate claim against the pilots’ estates for “willful, wanton, and reckless negligence.”
The trial, in front of U.S. District Court Judge Thomas D. Schroeder, likely will be conducted in two phases.
The first phase will be a jury trial on Dorton’s claims against the pilots’ estates, and the second phase will be a bench trial (a trial in front of just the judge and not a jury) that will focus on the claims against the United States for the actions of the air-traffic controllers.
All sides could still reach a settlement prior to the start or during the trials.
Among those killed in the crash were team owner Rick Hendrick’s son, Ricky, as well as Rick’s brother, John (president of Hendrick Motorsports) and John’s daughters Kimberly and Jennifer.
