A Hendrick Motorsports airplane flying to North Carolina made an emergency landing early Monday morning at Memphis (Tenn.) International Airport due to smoke in the cabin.
Hendrick Motorsports plane makes emergency landing
The plane, coming from back from the Las Vegas NASCAR race, made a safe landing in Memphis (Tenn.).
Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
The plane was flying back from Las Vegas, the site of Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, and carrying team personnel. There were no injuries. None of Hendrick’s four drivers -- Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne or Chase Elliott -- were aboard the plane, according to a team official.
A second plane was dispatched to Memphis to return the passengers to North Carolina, while the original plane remains in Memphis and is being evaluated.
According to FlightAware.com, a website that tracks flights, a Hendrick Motorsports plane left McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas at 10:22 p.m. ET, made a fuel stop just after midnight ET at Tulsa (Okla.) International Airport en route to Concord, N.C. That same plane made a landing in Memphis at 2:31 a.m. ET.
In Oct. 2004, a Hendrick plane flying to a Cup Series race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway crashed into Bull Mountain killing all 10 on board, including team owner Rick Hendrick’s son, brother and two nieces.
In Oct. 2011, Hendrick was aboard a plane, registered to Johnson, that overshot the runway while landing at Key West (Fla.) International Airport. Hendrick broke four ribs, a broken clavicle and suffered a concussion in the accident.
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