It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since the tragic plane crash that killed Bachelorette Emily Maynard’s fiance Ricky Hendrick. We first learned about the story on Bachelor Brad Womack (Fiance #2)’s season of The Bachelor. Emily Maynard was just married on June 8th of this year to her longtime friend Tyler Johnson, but she must be feeling some pain today.
October 24th marks the 10th anniversary of tragic day that took the life of Ricky Hendrick, Emily’s then fiancee and Little Ricky’s father in Martinsville, VA.
The plane was headed to Martinsville for the Sprint Cup race but was reported missing at 3:00 pm. Emergency vehicles patrolled the Virginia area during the race after 911 was called.
Midway through the race, searchers found airplane wreckage on the summit and the bodies of the Hendrick group at exactly 11:05 pm. Everyone on board had been killed. A search by firemen also discovered a scar on the mountain of moved dirt; the discovery proved that the airplane crashed on the side of the mountain and the explosion blew the wreckage and group upward.
NASCAR learned of the plane crash halfway through the race. Interestingly Hendrick Motorsports won the race that day but passed on the victory lap. NASCAR summoned all the Hendrick Motorsports drivers– including the race winner Jimmie Johnson– to the Oval Office to deliver the news.
Ironically the Hendricks franchise has been very successful since the fateful day winning 100 Sprint Cup races and six Sprint Cup championships since the accident.
It turned out that the plane was trying to land in foggy conditions and missed the first landing approach. The pilot and crew became disoriented by the fog and crashed into the side of Bull Mountain at roughly 12:35 PM EST.
The accident also took the life of Ricky Hendrick’s, brother John Hendrick, Kimberly Hendrick, Jennifer Hendrick, head engine builder Randy Dorton, DuPont executive Joe Jackson, HMS General Manager Jeff Turner, pilots Scott Lathram, Dick Tracy and Liz Morrison.
Hopefully Emily has had time to heal. Our thoughts are with the friends and family.
