Retired NASCAR driverDale Earnhardt Jr., wifeAmy Earnhardtand their young daughter,Isla Rose, were in a fiery plane crash in Tennessee on Thursday, though his family said all three are okay.
Dale’s sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller, with whom he runs his racing business,tweeted thatthe three and two pilots were involved in the crash on Thursday afternoon.
“Everyone is safe and has been taken to the hospital for further evaluation,” Miller wrote. “We have no further information at this time. Thank you for your understanding.”
The crash reportedly occurred at the Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Elizabethton. “A Cessna Citation rolled off the end of Runway 24 and caught fire after landing at Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Tennessee at 3:40 p.m. today,” an FAA statement read, according toTheTennessean.
An Elizabethton Fire Department official told PEOPLE that Amy, 37, and Dale, 44, were transported to the hospital out of an abundance of caution and without serious injuries.
Further details about the nature of the crash were not immediately available.
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Photos and video from the scene show a burnt and blackened aircraft after it was billowing smoke at the airport.
Other racing celebrities sent their well wishes for the Earnhardts after the crash.
“Thank god everyone is safe,” former NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnsontweeted. Fellow racers includingAlex Bowman,Clint BowyerandDaniel Suárezshared similar thoughts.
Dale, long NASCAR’s favorite son, retired from racing in 2017 aftersecretly grappling with concussions for years. He and Amy welcomed Islain April 2018.
“I have this happiness over the fact that I don’t have to worry about getting hurt,” he told PEOPLE last yearin an interview at his 300-acre estatein North Carolina. “When I come home to [Isla], I don’t have to worry about ever coming home hurt. I don’t ever have to worry about spending months with symptoms while she’s turning 1. You know what I mean? Me and Amy get to experience this together.”
Giacomo Fortunato
“I look forward to it,” he said. “There’ll be a day when me and [Amy] just hang out and don’t need to be anywhere.”
source: people.com
