{"id":356749,"date":"2025-12-20T02:18:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T02:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/356749\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T02:18:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T02:18:14","slug":"investigators-begin-look-into-plane-crash-that-killed-nascar-driver-biffle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/356749\/","title":{"rendered":"Investigators begin look into plane crash that killed NASCAR driver Biffle"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATESVILLE, N.C. (AP) \u2014 Federal investigators are trying to figure out why a business jet carrying retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle<\/a> and six others tried to return to a North Carolina airport just after takeoff but plowed into light poles and a tree line short of the runway, killing everyone on board.<\/p>\n

The Cessna C550 erupted into a large fire when it hit the ground Thursday morning, about a third of a mile (550 meters) from the airport\u2019s runway. They also don\u2019t know who the was the lead pilot. Biffle was one of three people on board with a pilot\u2019s license.<\/p>\n

The jet had departed Statesville Regional Airport, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Charlotte, 10 minutes earlier, but crashed<\/a> while trying to return and land, authorities said.<\/p>\n

Flight records indicate the plane was registered to a company run by Biffle. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board began examining the wreckage on Friday to help determine the cause of the crash and why the plane had returned to the airport in drizzle and cloudy conditions.<\/p>\n

Investigators recovered the cockpit voice recorder, which could provide important clues about what happened. They were not aware of any emergency calls from the jet, NTSB member Michael Graham said at a Friday news conference.<\/p>\n

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There were three pilots on board. Federal Aviation Administration records show Biffle was rated to fly helicopters, and single- and multi-engine planes. Also on board was pilot Dennis Dutton, Dutton\u2019s son, Jack \u2014 who had a private pilot\u2019s license for single-engine planes \u2014 and Biffle\u2019s friend Craig Wadsworth. <\/p>\n

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Biffle\u2019s wife, Cristina, and children Ryder, 5, and Emma, 14, were also killed in the crash, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said.<\/p>\n

Cristina Biffle\u2019s mother told People magazine<\/a> that her daughter sent her a text message saying, \u201cWe\u2019re in trouble,\u201d before she didn\u2019t hear from her again.<\/p>\n

Federal investigators on Friday didn\u2019t have answers yet about the crew.<\/p>\n

Dennis Dutton was licensed and rated to fly this model of plane, but even then, he was supposed to fly with a co-pilot. Even though Biffle was rated to fly a multi-engine plane, he wasn\u2019t listed as qualified to fly this particular jet or be a second officer. Dutton\u2019s son, Jack, also had a pilot\u2019s license but was only rated for single-engine planes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nobody else that has a second-in-command type rating in the airplane. So there\u2019s a question on the crew,\u201d aviation safety expert John Cox said.<\/p>\n

The plane\u2019s speed and altitude fluctuated significantly during the brief flight, and its path was consistent with a flight crew that experienced an issue and needed to return quickly, said former NTSB and FAA crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti.<\/p>\n

At one point, the plane quickly soared from 1,800 feet (550 meters) up to 4,000 feet (1,220 meters) before descending again. Just before the crash, it was only a couple of hundred feet off the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing is certain: They were low. They were too low to make a safe landing on that runway,\u201d Guzzetti said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear why the pilots didn\u2019t make an emergency call, but their top priorities are flying the plane and figuring out where to land \u2014 not radioing for help. It\u2019s possible they were too busy trying to control the plane and dealing with the problem. But Cox said it\u2019s also possible that the problem they encountered wasn\u2019t considered an emergency. And the pilots may not have made it a priority to make a radio call with no tower or firefighters at the airport.<\/p>\n

Biffle, 55, won more than 50 races across NASCAR\u2019s three circuits, including 19 at the Cup Series level. He also won the Trucks Series championship in 2000 and the Xfinity Series title in 2002.<\/p>\n

In 2024, Biffle was honored for his humanitarian efforts after Hurricane Helene struck the U.S., even using his personal helicopter to deliver aid to flooded, remote western North Carolina.<\/p>\n

A memorial with flowers sprouted up Friday by Biffle\u2019s marble star in his hometown of Mooresville, honoring him as a member of the North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame. <\/p>\n

Steve Miller dropped by to pay his respects. He met Biffle at a huge party after he was inducted in October. He told Biffle he hoped the racecar driver could help knock an item off his bucket list \u2014 taking a flight in a helicopter.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome knock on my door, I\u2019ll take you up,\u201d Miller recalled Biffle telling him. \u201cNever happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cessna Citations like the one that crashed Thursday are known as reliable, easy-to-fly jets. While the plane is in flight, one pilot is at the controls while the other pilot is the monitoring pilot, Cox said.<\/p>\n

Roughly 1,000 of these 550 series jets have been made, and they have a very good safety record. \u201cWhat accidents have occurred in this type were mostly due to very poor pilot decisions,\u201d Guzzetti said.<\/p>\n

The Statesville airport will remain closed at least through Saturday as the NTSB performs its investigation, officials said.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press writers Allen G. Breed; Jenna Fryer in Charlotte, North Carolina; and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATESVILLE, N.C. (AP) \u2014 Federal investigators are trying to figure out why a business jet carrying retired NASCAR…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[22863,153383,49,48,153442,154178,153443,14897,2841,154180,154177,129031,154179,634,22866,122851,22864,22865,153380,82,1601,2845],"class_list":["post-356749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-automobile-racing","tag-aviation-safety","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-craig-wadsworth","tag-cristina-biffle","tag-dennis-dutton","tag-federal-aviation-administration","tag-general-news","tag-jeff-guzzetti","tag-john-cox","tag-local-news-for-apple","tag-michael-graham","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-racing","tag-national-transportation-safety-board","tag-nc-state-wire","tag-north-carolina","tag-plane-crashes","tag-sports","tag-transportation","tag-u-s-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}