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NTSB: Pilot’s actions likely caused Earnhardt plane crash

NTSB released final report on Earnhardt plane crash (NTSB)

ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. – The National Transportation Safety Board says a pilot’s inability to maintain proper airspeed and the flight crew’s decision to continue an unstable approach for landing likely caused the crash of a small plane carrying race car driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his family in 2019.

The NTSB released its final accident Wednesday and it points to actions by the pilot and co-pilot in the Aug. 15, 2019, crash at an Elizabethton, Tennessee, airport.

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Earnhardt was with wife Amy, 15-month-old daughter Isla and two pilots when their Cessna crashed and caught fire.

The NTSB says the three passengers suffered minor injuries.


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