What exactly happened in the 1994 death of Ayrton Senna?

Question

I've seen a lot of stories from a lot of sites that are way different from each other. What's true?

Answer 1

that during his life, he had kept secret.

[edit]
The fatal accident at Imola in 1994
In 1994, Senna finally left the ailing McLaren team for the top team at the end of 1993 Williams-Renault. After the banning of active suspension Williams started the season trying to close the gap to Benetton. Senna failed to finish his first two races, despite taking two superb pole positions against the Benetton at both events. On May 1 1994, he took part in his third race for the team, the San Marino GP. Although he would not finish it, Senna started his last race from pole position.

That weekend, he was particularly upset by two events. On the Friday of the Grand Prix, during the morning session, Senna's protégé, the then newcomer Rubens Barrichello was involved in a serious accident that would prevent him from competing in the race. Senna visited Barrichello in the hospital (he jumped the wall at the back of the facility after being barred from visitation by the doctors) and was then convinced that safety standards had to be reviewed. On Saturday, the death of Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger in practice forced the issue and even caused Senna to consider retiring. Ironically, he spent his final morning in meetings with fellow drivers, determined by Ratzenberger's accident to take on a new responsibility to re-create a Driver's Safety group to look at safety changes in Formula One. As the most senior driver, he was offered (and accepted) the role of leader in this effort.

A crash at the start of the race involving Pedro Lamy and J. J. Lehto (in which a stray wheel hit spectators in the grandstand) caused the caution flag to wave. On the second lap after the restart, Senna's car left the track at Tamburello corner without turning, and skimmed across the sand trap. Telemetry shows he left the track at 193 mph and although the sand trap managed to slow his car to 135 mph in less than two seconds, his car struck the unprotected concrete perimeter wall. After Senna's car had come to a halt false hopes were raised when his head was clearly seen to move slightly. Professor Sidney Watkins, a world-renowned neurosurgeon and Formula One Safety Delegate and Medical Delegate, head of the Formula One on-track medical team, who performed an on site tracheotomy on Ayrton Senna, reported:

"He looked serene. I raised his eyelids and it was clear from his pupils that he had a massive brain injury. We lifted him from the cockpit and laid him on the ground. As we did, he sighed and, although I am totally agnostic, I felt his soul departed at that moment."
Senna was only 34 years old. The lack of information on the cause of death led to much speculation. What is known is that the front right tire with attached suspension piece became loose on impact, hit Senna on the head and pierced his visor, causing the fatal trauma. Images of Senna's battered helmet indicate that some sort of puncture had occurred at the top of the visor, just over his right eye. This led to the now most commonly accepted theory that one of the car's suspension bars had come loose and impacted with Senna's head.

The FIA and Italian authorities still maintain that Senna was not killed instantly, but rather died in hospital, to where he had been rushed by helicopter after an emergency tracheotomy and IV administration were performed. There is an ongoing debate as to why Senna was not declared dead at the track. Under Italian law when a person dies at a sporting event, that death must be investigated, causing the sporting event to be cancelled. The Director of the Oporto (Portugal) Legal Medicine Institute, Professor Pinto da Costa, has stated the following:

"From the ethical viewpoint, the procedure used for Ayrton's body was wrong. It involved dysthanasia, which means that a person has been kept alive improperly after biological death has taken place due to brain injuries so serious that the patient would never have been able to remain alive without mechanical means of support. There would have been no prospect of normal life and relationships. Whether or not Ayrton was removed from the car while his heart was beating or whether his supply of blood had halted or was still flowing, is irrelevant to the determination of when he died.
The autopsy showed that the crash caused multiple fractures at the base of the cranium, crushing the forehead and rupturing the temporal artery with haemorrhage in the respiratory passages. It is possible to resuscitate a dead person immediately after the heart stops through cardio-respiratory processes. The procedure is known as putting the patient on the machine. From the medical-legal viewpoint, in Ayrton's case, there is a subtle point: resuscitation measures were implemented.

Answer 2

You are not alone in the search for the truth. Unfortunately, the truth is hidden to protect many pepole and and organizations' interests. I have read the previous answers, and pinpacker gave the most correct answer as far as facts are concerned. craigrr92 gave the most valid answer regarding the controversy of the death. And if you compare those two answers, they are different, but both correct! I will try to summarize what happened that day in Italy:

1) Ayrton was driving a Williams car. Rules had chenged at the beginning of the season banning active suspensions, which were initially created and mastered by Williams in the previous years. So the lack of that electronic device rendered the Williams cars not as reliable and drivable as they used to be.

2) Indeed there were accidents the days just preceeding Ayrton's death, but Barricellos' huge crash and Ratzelberger's fatality didn't affect Senna's ability to drive. A great driver does not lose concentration on his job, even if he is extremely concerned. Therefore, Senna did not make any driving mistake

3) There was a mechanical failure that initiated the accident. There are 3 theories 1) That the lack of active suspensions made the car "bottom out", meaning the front wheels lost adherence with the ground, and therefore an attempt to steer resulted in a futile operation; 2) That the right front suspension came lose during that famous turn "(the Tamburello turn at the Imola, Italy race track) and this failure pointed the car towards the barriers and a piece of that suspension hit Ayton's helmet, piercing it and thus causing death; and 3) That the steering column, which was indeed questioned by Ayrton prior to the race broke upon turning, thus preventing the driver to effectively turn the car, and some say that the steering column ended up being the mechanical part that pierced the helmet.

Now, I gave you the 3 technical possibilities, but due to legalities, law suits, responsibility of the Williams team, of the paramedics, of the Formula One Body, of the race track authorities, etc. these factors are preventing us from knowing the truth. I wonder if any of those parties really know the truth!!! I truly believe that team owner and GM of the Williams cars (Sir. Frank Williams) has an upper hand in knowing the causes of the accident, and although he will never say, he will one day pass away with a little secret with him.

What happened after the accident is in a way irrelevant, as far as the exact time of death, or what resuscitation methods had been used. The cause of death is due to a metal mechanical part of the car which ended up puncturing Ayrton's head, causing hemmorage and death. But why did that happen? I have a brief film downloaded from online, showing the few seconds of the accident. Although informative, I cannot tell what went on to cause that accident. If you contact me separately from this forum, I can email you that clip.

One good thing after that accident is that Formula One took safety at a much higher level, and since then, more than 12 years went by and no other deadly accidents took place in the F1 circuit. Although we all miss him, Ayrton was a cathalist for racing safety ... unfortunately after he left us!

Answer 3

What exactly happened was this.

Senna was in the Williams on his third pole of the year, and hadn't won a race yet. The pressure was on and the car was not up to par, and very hard to control. It failed the first two races. Senna wanted the steering column shortened and the Williams team did this prerace. Senna came in and complained it was wobbly, but they "checked it" by moving the wheel back and forth one and it was still connected, so they sent him back out. If there was any fixing to do, the car would not be in the race, and there wasn't time to switch cars, either, so they merely sent him back out. On lap seven on the bumpy Tamburelo Curve going flat out, the steering column broke and Senna went straight off into the concrete wall. When you see pictures of the weld it looks like a rushed job and the weld was smaller than the surrounding area and not reinforced. It broke at the weld of course and senna went straight off. Telemetry supports this. When hitting the wall the steering column pierced Senna's helmet just above the visor and he was killed instantly.

There was a big investigation, because the Italian courts maintained that there was negligence and the team was responsible for the death. The investigation dragged on for years because Williams said they did nothing wrong and that Senna merely lost control. They said Senna was hit with a suspension part when the wheel came off, though that could never be substantiated nor a possible suspension part identified by anyone. William's said the steering column only broke when the car hit the wall and had nothing to do with the crash at all. Examination of Senna's helmet shows the piercing of the steering column, and beyond the fatal puncture to his brain, there was very little other damage to Senna's body.

The car was impounded by the FIA and hidden away, though they said they did not know where it was. It was not not seen by Williams or the government for at least six months. There was a possibility that there would be no more racing at all in Italy, but not because of a government ban, but because the FIA threatened to pull out all racing and never return to Italy unless all charges against William's dropped and the investigation squashed. The government persisted and when the car did finally show up, the onboard telemetry recorder had been smashed with sledge hammers. The tape was reconstructed but then a piece came up missing.

With the FIA's meddling and the William's teams confusing testimony and constant appeals, after about eleven years, the investigation basically came to a stalemate, but at least the government made its point, somewhat. But the FIA made a point as well. At one time the judges were paid off to dismiss the case, but it was reinstated by another judge, and it went on again, only to come to an end by the statute of limitations. With only one remaining charge, they tabled it. Racing is still in Italy, though they will probably be more careful when making repairs.

Answer 4

Ayrton Senna Autopsy

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What exactly happened in the 1994 death of Ayrton Senna?
I've seen a lot of stories from a lot of sites that are way different from each other. What's true?

Answer 6

you have to pay attention to one thing: the day before the race, during the qualification there was another accident too, during which Barrichelo was badly injured and another pilot died (i forgot his name, some sort of German one..).
They said he died in the hospital and concealed the fact that the pilot died on the track ('coz in that case they would have to cancel the race). That already was a violation of FIA rules.

The reason for Senna's tragic death is still vague to me. 'coz the question is, what exactly caused the accident. if you see the on-board video, you can notice that before the crush something was wrong with the car and Ayrton was trying to control it, he was trying to turn the wheel, but it just wouldn't!.
Plus, the question is, what happened to on-board video itself, why was its part missing? They say it wasn't missing when they restored it but only when it was presented at the court as an evidence..
So, big question mark still remains and i don't think we will ever know what really happened at Imola that day.
I'm only glad that they're going to remove Imola GP from the list, I hope they really will.

Answer 7

The amount of downforce generated during the sweeping left hand corner, forced the car to bottom-out, taking some of the load off the Tyre's. The steering became useless, and he veered right, off the track. There are many conspiracy theories about, but this is the official one. The fact Williams had there "Active Suspension" banned just before the season could be responsible. What-ever the reason, Senna has been missed ever since.

Answer 8

As the other answers say, a broken steering column led to the accident.

The point is that it was, in the end, bad luck that the suspension components penetrated his helmet.

When my son and I were racing a few years ago an Formula Ford driver we knew crashed at around 80 mph and his front suspension came back and penetrated his chest. His death was described as a freak accident. In the end the safely improvement and fuss over Senna's death was because he was famous. Race drivers risk their lives every day for their sport.

Answer 9

Interesting topic.

I read all the answers with great sadness, may Ayrton Senna be remembered forever as the greatest driver in all time.

Answer 10

No-one knows for sure, the accepted reason now is that the car bottomed out mid corner causing it to career off track.

At the time it was thought that the weld in the steering coloumn broke, but they couldn't prove if it was the cause or the effect of the accident.