Canoe

Helio's Air scare: Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves said his crash during yesterday's practice was nothing compared to what could have happened during his flight to Detroit.

Castroneves said he thought he was going to die while flying back from Brazil on Wednesday night. After losing fuel, the plane made an emergency landing in Miami.

Castroneves said he first learned something was wrong from a flight attendant.

"She said we have a hydraulic problem," Castroneves said.

After finding out the plane was returning to Miami, the defending Detroit Grand Prix champion said he thought everything would be fine.

But then, Castroneves said, the captain came on the radio and told the passengers "Don't worry about this liquid coming out of the wings," and said it was fuel.

"I'm like, 'This guy has got to be kidding.' And the people started yelling. Then I started thinking, `I'm going to die here.' "

The plane landed safely in Miami with emergency vehicles lining the runway.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), June 16, 2001