Business as Usual : Despite Plane Crash, Airline Owner Lauda Probably Won’t Return to Grand Prix Racing

The first time Lauda Airlines suffered a serious setback, its owner returned to motor racing and won his third Grand Prix world driving championship.

Niki Lauda isn’t likely to do that again, even after one of his planes crashed over a hilly jungle in Thailand on May 26, killing all 213 passengers and 10 crew members. The crash was about 100 miles northwest of Bangkok and occurred about 16 minutes after the plane took off en route to Vienna.

Several reasons have been offered for the accident, but the plane was so badly damaged that the primary reason might never be known. At first, a study of the black box recorder indicated that one of the two Pratt & Whitney engines might have reversed in flight as a result of computer error.

“No pilot in the world could have gotten the situation under control,” Lauda said at the time. “It’s as if you were driving 180 m.p.h. and suddenly braked on one side.”

After Boeing Co. officials and government experts inspected the wreckage, other causes were suspected, such as a fire in the rear luggage compartment or the presence of cheap watches in the hold that could have affected the electrical system. Security officials even suggested the possibility of a bomb after learning that the Don Muang airport in Bangkok did not inspect luggage with X-ray equipment.

Fears that the mid-air explosion of the Boeing 767 jetliner might cause the small Austrian airline to collapse again apparently are unfounded; Lauda leased another plane and continued his passenger service schedule.

“The insurance company paid off (the airline) in 10 days, and there was no falloff in the number of passengers, so Lauda Air has been doing quite well indeed following the accident,” said Jeff Hutchinson, a friend of Lauda’s.

Lauda first retired from racing in 1979 after winning world championships in a Ferrari in 1975 and ’77. He suffered a near-fatal crash in 1976.

He bought four airplanes and formed Laudair, a Vienna-based airline, but opposition from Austrian Airlines and a recession in Europe forced him back into racing 2 1/2 years later.

“I realized that I had reached a point where I could not expand and I was not

yet big enough to keep going,” he said atthe time. “You can work 24 hours a day running an airline, then the interest rates go up and you can’t do anything about it.

“Then I also thought it would be a challenge to see how I could do after two years not driving.”

Once back, in a Porsche-powered McLaren, Lauda learned quickly. In his third race, he won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and two years later edged teammate Alain Prost by a half-point to win his third world title.

After the 1985 season, in which he won only one race and finished 10th in the points standings, he retired again to build Lauda Air.

This time he was better prepared, having taken as partners the owner of the biggest travel agency in Austria and one of the major suppliers of jet fuel in Europe.

Armed with a bargain price for fuel and with all his seats filled, Lauda leased several planes from Yugoslavia and began his expansion by offering service from Austria to South America, Australia and New Zealand and the Canary Islands, a favorite vacation spot for Europeans.

Last year, he went public with Lauda Air but retained a majority interest in the company. He bought three Boeing 767 jets, the first to be equipped with Pratt & Whitney engines instead of the usual General Electric engines.

Lauda not only ran the company, he also served as a pilot on as many flights as he could manage. He said he favored a hands-on operation because it enabled him to see for himself how well the crews, flight personnel and mechanics were doing their jobs.

In addition to his three large jets, Lauda has a fleet of smaller planes for charter flights and he also flies a personal Lear Jet.

Even if Lauda Air fell on hard times again, it is doubtful that its 42-year-old owner would return to motor racing. He rarely attends a Formula One event except when he does TV commentary or has business in the area where the race is scheduled.

About the only link with his past is the Parmalat baseball-type hat he wears to cover a wide, shiny scar on the right side of his head, the result of the near-fatal crash and fire at Nurburgring, Germany.