investigate the cause of the accident.<\/a><\/p>\nWhile the details are still under investigation, an initial report revealed that the private jet made a left turn, then another left turn back to the airport in drizzle and cloudy conditions, five minutes after takeoff.<\/p>\n
The plane appears to have hit a runway light stanchion about 1,800\u2032 from the threshold.<\/p>\n
The crash impacted two trees, two runway lights, and the airport fence.<\/p>\n
Officials did not say who was flying the plane, but they did confirm that three people on board held pilot\u2019s licenses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The aircraft, built in 1981, is reportedly registered to GB Aviation Leasing, a company tied to Biffle, according to public records.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A cockpit voice recorder was found and was sent to the NTSB lab in Washington, DC, as the investigation continues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Graham said a preliminary report is expected within 30 days; however, a final report could take up to 18 months.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tNational Transportation Safety Board’s update\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The NTSB held a press conference on December 19, updating the public on what the board knows so far about the death of NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and six others. The NTSB states:<\/p>\n
At 10:05 am, the private jet departed from Statesville Regional Airport, about 40 miles outside Charlotte, North Carolina, bound for Sarasota, Florida
\nThe plane made an initial left turn, then another left turn back to the airport\u00a0in drizzle and cloudy conditions, five minutes after takeoff
\nThe plane appears to have hit a runway light stanchion about 1,800\u2032 from the threshold
\nThe crash impacted two trees, two runway lights, and the airport fence
\nThe aircraft was built in 1981 and is registered to GB Aviation Leasing, a company tied to Biffle
\nSeven people died in the crash: Greg Biffle, Cristina Biffle, Emma Biffle, Ryder Biffle, Craig Wadsworth, Dennis Dutton, and Jack Dutton<\/p>\n
Biffle was a two-time NASCAR national-series champion and later a Cup Series winner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGreg was more than a champion driver, he was a beloved member of the NASCAR community, a fierce competitor, and a friend to so many,\u201d NASCAR said in a statement. <\/p>\n
\u201cHis passion for racing, his integrity, and his commitment to fans and fellow competitors alike made a lasting impact on the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their families are remembering the victims in a joint statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach of them meant everything to us, and their absence leaves an immeasurable void in our lives,\u201d the statement said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe ask for privacy, compassion and understanding as we grieve and begin to process this unimaginable loss.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A CHILLING text was sent from a passenger just moments before the deadly plane crash that killed NASCAR…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,155774,155775,82],"class_list":["post-362385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-plane-crashes-and-air-disasters","tag-planes-flights-and-airlines","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362385","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=362385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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