Page 6 - Fuel Dump News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

It's a family tradition that mike houseman has carried on for more than eight years. >> sprint cars are probably the most powerful dirt car there is. my dad raced for like 25 years. mainly here in knoxville. my brother races now. my cousin raced, my grandpa raced. so it's a big kind of family deal with us. >> but on this night, the family dynasty almost comes to a tragic end. >> i remember the start of the race, starting up front, i remember running a few laps under green, then battling with another car side by side. he kept getting closer and closer to me. >> the two drivers jockey back and f...

>> the pilot advised that they needed to dump fuel. at that point they were approximately 16,000 feet. the fuel dump complicated the situation. greatly. >> it's a good decision to get the airplane as light as you can. it's easier on the airplane. >> but delaying the landing could put the flight in more danger. the passengers have been told they are being diverted, but there is no smoke in the cabin, and they have no idea that inside the cockpit, something is going horribly wrong. following the smoke checklist, the pilot shut off power to the cabin. if there is an electrical fire this could cut...

Water was when i suggested that they could commence their fuel dump. that was also the time unknown to me that the aircraft began experiencing a series of critical systems failures. >> the plane begins to lose altitude. >> within a minute, they had lost several critical systems. they lost the radio contact. and very soon after that we lost the transponder. >> inside the cockpit a nightmare scenario was unfolding. fire has breached the ceiling, dripping aluminum on to the flight deck. they lose control of the plane and plunge into the ocean at 345 miles an hour. the impact is enormous. there ar...

>> sprint cars are probably the most powerful dirt car there is. my dad raced for like 25 years. mainly here in knoxville. my brother races now. my cousin raced, my grandpa raced. so it's a big kind of family deal with us. >> but on this night, the family dynasty almost comes to a tragic end. >> i remember the start of the race, starting up front, i remember running a few laps under green, then battling with another car side by side. he kept getting closer and closer to me. >> the two drivers jockey back and forth for the lead until mike suddenly realizes something the wrong. >> one lap i didn...

The air. >> trouble. >> while i was in the air, i could feel my tank had ruptured. i started feeling the fuel dump on me. >> mike's sprint car lands right side up and immediately bursts into flames, but he's trapped in his seat soaking in gasoline as the fire quickly surrounds him. >> i started breathing in pretty heavy amounts of fire. after a while my belts melted so i couldn't get them off. so i'm just thinking i'm probably going to die in this race car. >> raceway firefighters austin kingry and shane spaulding witness the crash directly in front of them. but they must watch helplessly as t...