Why did Evel Knievel, a daredevil performer who was famous for spectacular, airborne, motorcycle stunts, crash during his famous Caesars Palace, Las Vegas stunt?

On February 18, 2001, NASCAR superstar Dale Earnhardt Sr. was killed in a crash on the Daytona 500 racing track in front of 250,000 people. How could this fearsome and fearless driver, driving a car he knew, on a track he knew, die in an accident that looked minor by NASCAR standards? Investigators wanted to know how a seemingly mild crash killed Dale Earnhardt. The ensuing investigation revealed a shocking case file that rocked NASCAR to its core.

From Santa Monica airport in his vintage WW2 restored fighter plane on March 5, 2015, he radioed the tower just minutes later saying something was wrong and he needed to land somewhere immediately. He managed to crash land on to a golf course, clipping a tree on the way down. Ford was critically injured, but a surgeon, who was on the course golfing when it crashed, pulled him out of the plane and helped him till paramedics arrived. Ford suffered amnesia in the accident and could not recall the events that led to the crash. Investigators studied the evidence and put the pieces together. One tiny part of the airplane, designed in the 1940's, had not been replaced or even checked since Ford bought the plane 17 years before.