Jack Roush in Plane Crash Again, Walks Away Hurt, Is Hospitalized

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- NASCAR team owner Jack Roush is in serious but stable condition after walking away from a plane crash in a jet he was piloting in Wisconsin on Tuesday.

"There are injuries. Possible surgery," Roush Fenway Racing president Geoff Smith said in a text message to The Associated Press. "But he walked out of the plane."

Video taken in the immediate aftermath of the crash shows a fireman spraying foam around the plane, then opening the forward door and peering in. A few moments later, Roush, his face bloodied and blood stains covering his shirt and pants, gingerly walks through the opening.

A backboard is brought up as Roush lies down next to the plane. Meanwhile, his lone passenger, identified as Brenda Strickland, also gingerly makes her way out of the plane on her feet, assisted by rescuers.

Roush, an aviation buff, was expected to attend the Experimental Aircraft Association's annual AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., this week.

The aviation website avweb.com reported that Roush's Premier Beechcraft jet pancaked the runway with a loud bang while landing at Oshkosh, but that Roush and a passenger were out of the plane and standing after the crash.

The website said a pilot who witnessed the incident said the plane was coming in for a landing when it appeared to initiate a go-around and in the process one wing dropped and the jet fell toward the ground.

"The right wing tip hit the right side of the grass to the right of the runway, and then immediately after, the nose hit and it cartwheeled, tail over the nose, and then skidded to a stop," eyewitness Roger Florkiewicz told WFRV-TV 5 in Green Bay.

A dramatic YouTube video of Roush emerging from the plane also suggests the crash was witnessed by many people already at the airport for the AirVenture show. The video was shot by someone standing among a group of spectators watching the frightening scene and they react with relief and even some applause as Roush emerges from his broken jet on his feet.



A photo at the avweb.com site showed the heavily damaged jet and its cracked fuselage.

The website Jalopnik posted another photo of the crash scene.

A graphic photo of a bloodied Roush emerging from the plane was posted on Twitter, but fair warning, it's quite graphic and bloody.

In a statement on the EAA website, officials said a Beechcraft Premier business jet registered to Roush Fenway Racing, LLC was involved in a landing accident at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh.

The accident occurred at approximately 6:15 p.m. CDT, the statement said.



According to the EAA, the National Transportation Safety Board and Winnebago County Sheriff's Department confirmed that two occupants on board were Roush and Brenda Strickland of Plymouth, Mich. WFRV-TV said Strickland is Roush's secretary.

"Each exited the aircraft following the accident," the EAA statement said. "Both were transported to local hospitals, with Roush in serious but stable condition and Strickland with non-life threatening injuries. The NTSB is leading the investigation into the accident."

It is the second plane crash Roush has survived. He crashed a plane into a pond in Alabama in 2002 and was rescued by an ex-Marine who lived nearby. Roush continued flying after that accident.

Roush owns several aircraft, including a World War II-vintage P-51 Mustang.

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