This Is Not the 1st Time Dale Earnhardt Jr. Has Survived a Fiery Crash

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his family were flying into Elizabethton Airport in Tennessee Thursday when the plane careened off the runway and burst into flames.
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The race car driver also escaped flames in 2004 when his vehicle crashed in California.

Racing hero Dale Earnhardt Jr. has escaped a fiery crash for the second time in his life following an incident with a private plane Thursday. 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his family were flying into Elizabethton Airport in Tennessee Thursday when the plane careened off the runway and burst into flames. They were traveling in a Cessna Citation Latitude, a $15 million top-of-the-line executive jet with room for eight passengers.

The plane had just landed when something went wrong. It skidded off the runway, slid across the grass and crashed through a fence. It came to a stop on the side of the highway.

On board was the former race car driver, his wife, their 1-year-old daughter, their family dog and two pilots. Everyone scrambled out before the fire consumed the aircraft.

In 2004, Earnhardt Jr. was driving in a warm-up day of a race in California when his car slid off the course and hit a concrete barrier. The vehicle burst into flames with him still inside, and he suffered second-degree burns.

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