Bradshaw, Fitz get a scare: A private plane carrying former NFL quarterback Terry Bradshaw, his daughter, and his [#12 Kerry Earnhardt] racing team partner, Nashvillian Armando Fitz, almost crashed on takeoff yesterday at a Texas airport. The three, along with two pilots, were departing from Alliance Airport near Fort Worth, bound for Nashville and tonight’s Inside Traxx 300 Busch Series race when both left-side tires of the plane blew as it was taking off. ”I’ve flown all my life, in all kinds of bad weather, and this is the closest call I’ve ever had,” Fitz said. ”As we taxied down the runway for takeoff, the plane began to shake and rattle so bad that the lining overhead was coming loose. ‘We were right at the end of the runway and the pilot had the nose of the plane in the air when the left side tires blew. He got the plane stopped and we all hurried off, and as we were standing there looking, the right-side tires blew, too. ‘We were just a second or two from takeoff. If we’d got airborne, with blown tires, we’d have had to make a crash landing.” Another plane was chartered and the three made the flight without incident. Fitz was on hand for last night’s qualifying. Bradshaw accompanied his daughter, Rachel, to Music Row, where she was making a demo tape. Bradshaw will be at tonight’s race. Bradshaw had been scheduled to address yesterday’s luncheon of the Nashville Sports Council. ”Terry was pretty shaken up,” Fitz said. ”I suppose part of it was because his daughter was on the plane. That made the whole thing even scarier. It was definitely the closest call I’ve ever had in my life.”(Tenneseean)(6-8-2002)
