Scott Kalitta's Accident report

[CAL]

Not sure if it was talked about before.

FWIW the accident report has been release.

Scott had a BAC of .25 25% over the legal limit.

Died from blut force injuries in excess of 100G-force and approching 200G-forces.

Apparently the clutch locked together, while Scott was applying the brakes and still was in control of the car couldn't slow it down because the motor was still propelling the vehicle and ran off the end of the track at 125+ MPH. After which hit several objects including a concrete wall, soild support pole, the cast iron counterwieght of 22,750# crane, a Chevy Van and an ATV before finally coming to rest on the ground.

New Jersey State Police are listing the cause as

Castrophic engine failure

Insufficient Braking

Insufficient Auxiliary Braking (parachute failure)

Driver Toxicology

Basically a DUI and violation of NHRA

Fixed Object Impacts

[Guest promodmerc]

Here is a link to the complete report.

http://www.njsp.org/news/pr091708.html

[MikeMc]

Driver Toxicology

Post mortem toxicological analysis of blood obtained from Scott Kalitta during his autopsy revealed the presence of Ethanol at a level of 23 mg/dL. This level converts to a BAC percentage of .02% BAC. This level, 25% of the legal limit for intoxication in the State of New Jersey, remains in violation of NHRA rules (Section 1.7, I., B.1.) as well as N.J.S.A. Title 13 Chapter 62 New Jersey State Motor Vehicle Racetrack Regulations.

Not drunk in NJ just NHRA

[CAL]

Driver Toxicology

Post mortem toxicological analysis of blood obtained from Scott Kalitta during his autopsy revealed the presence of Ethanol at a level of 23 mg/dL. This level converts to a BAC percentage of .02% BAC. This level, 25% of the legal limit for intoxication in the State of New Jersey, remains in violation of NHRA rules (Section 1.7, I., B.1.) as well as N.J.S.A. Title 13 Chapter 62 New Jersey State Motor Vehicle Racetrack Regulations.

Not drunk in NJ just NHRA

Sorry it was reported somewhere else as .25

[Tommy Kortman]

What twists me up, is that nobody wants to talk about the ESPN crane that Scott hit . The track asked ESPN a few times not to place the crane where they did.

The track was ignored, ESPN got their shot, and a man lost his life. In most of the interviews I either heard or saw, the driver questioned had something negative to say about the tracks "failures", but not a word was uttered about the total lack of oncern for the reacers safety by the TV crew looking for the "perfect shot". I would hope that Connie could sue ESPN for negligence, but that would probably mean the end of Televised Drag Racing. I have a friend who works at E-Town. He also posts on this board occasionaly. He was telling some of the Philly Guyz that they had a similar wreck at the track a while ago where the driver of an alcohol F/C made the mistake of looking down to see what gear he was in at the top end of the track. When he looked up and finally pulled the chutes, he was already at the sand trap. He ended up at the same point Scott did. He got banged up and I think broke his arm, but he is still with us. The difference was that the camera boom was not there.

Edited February 27, 2009 by Tommy Kortman

[DR Dubois]

Why would they not have a camera on a boom arm over the track or a wire suspension camera like at football fields? Makes no sense what so ever to have a crane truck parked anywhere on the track.

[CAL]

What twists me up, is that nobody wants to talk about the ESPN crane that Scott hit . The track asked ESPN a few times not to place the crane where they did.

The track was ignored, ESPN got their shot, and a man lost his life. In most of the interviews I either heard or saw, the driver questioned had something negative to say about the tracks "failures", but not a word was uttered about the total lack of oncern for the reacers safety by the TV crew looking for the "perfect shot". I would hope that Connie could sue ESPN for negligence, but that would probably mean the end of Televised Drag Racing. I have a friend who works at E-Town. He is also a posts on this board occasionaly. He was telling some of the Philly Guyz that they had a similar wreck at the track a while ago where the driver of an alcohol F/C made the mistake of looking down to see what gear he was in at the top end of the track. When he looked up and finally pulled the chutes, he was already at the sand trap. He ended up at the same point Scott did. He got banged up and I think broke his arm, but he is still with us. The difference was that the camera boom was not there.

The Chevy Van and ATV also belonged to ESPN. Donno if that is was killed him as it sounds like he hit a couple other things before the ESPN Crane, ESPN Van and ESPN ATV.

[Hemi Killer]

.25 alchohol content is pretty much unconcious for most people, thats like 300% the legal limit. wherever you saw that was mistaken.

[CAL]

.25 alchohol content is pretty much unconcious for most people, thats like 300% the legal limit. wherever you saw that was mistaken.

I think .08 is legal most places. It's closer to .40 that is unconcious for most people.

.25 is definatly impared but not unconcious.

I think they just mistook the 25% for .25 BAC. They were also jokingly saying, "what happened did he have a couple beers with lunch?"

Nevertheless, it should have been 0.00%

Edited February 23, 2009 by CAL

[84vanagon]

I think .08 is legal most places. It's closer to .40 that is unconcious for most people.

.25 is definatly impared but not unconcious.

I think they just mistook the 25% for .25 BAC. They were also jokingly saying, "what happened did he have a couple beers with lunch?"

Nevertheless, it should have been 0.00%

Depending on a lot of circumstances the alcohol in the blood may have been normal.

Due to various conditions (ie. the fire, the amount of time before the autopsy, etc.) the B.A.C. might have been due to normal decomposition. With out reading the actual coroners report it is hard to say what really happened. The police report is interesting, if gruesome, reading but is somewhat vague in certian instances.

[Tommy Kortman]

The Chevy Van and ATV also belonged to ESPN. Donno if that is was killed him as it sounds like he hit a couple other things before the ESPN Crane, ESPN Van and ESPN ATV.

From what I got from my buddy, when Scott hit the sand trap, it launched the car into the air. He caught the pole that holds the catch fence with the R/H side of the car. It ripped the r/h headers off the motor. If I remember correctly, the car did have an accelerometer in the car. It showed a couple of hits, but the numbers, when it hit the crane, went off the chart. Parts of the car were scattered all over the road behind the track. I dont think they ever found one of the front wheel and tire assemblies. I believe somewhere the BAC has been inflated. I do not recall hearing a number that high. i think it was .025. One of the rumors was that Scott had taken some cold medicine that morning. It was definitely a tragedy. I was at the track on friday. I do have a picture of Scott's last run. I am glad to see that they are keeping Scott's name on the car.

Edited February 25, 2009 by Tommy Kortman

[CAL]

From what I got from my buddy, when Scott hit the sand trap, it launched the car into the air. He caught the pole that holds the catch fence with the R/H side of the car. It ripped the r/h headers off the motor. If I remember correctly, the car did have an accelerometer in the car. It showed a couple of hits, but the numbers, when it hit the crane, went off the chart. Parts of the car were scattered all over the road behind the track. I dont think they ever found one of the front wheel and tire assemblies. I believe somewhere the BAC has been inflated. I do not recall hearing a number that high. i think it was .025. One of the rumors was that Scott had taken some cold medicine that morning. It was definitely a tragedy. I was at the track on friday. I do have a picture of Scott's last run. I am glad to see that they are keeping Scott's name on the car.

Sounds like what happened, but the report said he hit the concrete wall first, then the pole, and ripped the suspension and header off. It did have an Accelerometer on board, and they said it had gone to almost 200G-force.

The thing looked like it exploded in the trap.

[Tommy Kortman]

Sounds like what happened, but the report said he hit the concrete wall first, then the pole, and ripped the suspension and header off. It did have an Accelerometer on board, and they said it had gone to almost 200G-force.

The thing looked like it exploded in the trap.

I remember looking at the trap when I got there on Friday. It looked to me like the sand level was actually higher then he track surface. I remember thinking how that seemed odd because I thought that it would launch a car if it was hit correctly. I really wish I was wrong. As to the wall and pole, obviously the retaining wall runs parallel to the track, so the Gs there would be minimal. I think hitting the pole and ripping away the suspension and header should have pulled some energy out of the car, but the big G spike was hitting that crane. At this point, if all goes well, I will be back at the track again this year. I hope to camp out for the weekend. We'll see. Vios con Dios Scott... you are missed!!

[Gary66]

Take the boom truck out of the equation and we probably are not talking about a fatality.

R.I.P. Scott Kalitta......killed by ESPN.