A private jet carrying Dale Earnhardt Jr. burst into flames. He and his wife were unhurt

WJHL

• A private jet carrying former racecar driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his wife careened off a runway at Elizabethton Airport in Tennessee Thursday afternoon, bursting into flames as it came to rest on a highway near the runway.
• Earnhardt and his wife were unhurt and were able to quickly evacuate the plane, according to Elizabethton Fire Chief Barry Carrier, reported by local television station WJHL.
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A private jet carrying former racecar driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his wife careened off a runway at Elizabethton Airport in Tennessee Thursday afternoon, bursting into flames as it came to rest on a highway near the runway.

Earnhardt and his wife were unhurt and were able to quickly evacuate the plane, according to Elizabethton Fire Chief Barry Carrier, reported by local television station WJHL.

It was not immediately clear who was flying the plane, and what caused it to overrun the runway. It was also not clear what model plane it was, although the National Transportation Safety Board suggested that it was a Cessna 680.

Earnhardt, Jr. and his company, JR Motorsports, signed a sponsorship deal with Textron Aviation, which makes Cessna and Beechcraft airplanes, in February, 2016. As part of the partnership, Earnhardt Jr. would use a Cessna Citation business jet for travel.