{"id":380260,"date":"2025-12-31T22:22:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T22:22:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/380260\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T22:22:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T22:22:20","slug":"loud-pop-was-heard-moments-before-horrific-plane-crash-that-killed-nascar-legend-greg-biffle-and-six-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/380260\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Loud pop’ was heard moments before horrific plane crash that killed NASCAR legend Greg Biffle and six others"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MAX WINTERS, US DEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 09:36 EST, 31 December 2025 | Updated: 09:48 EST, 31 December 2025 <\/p>\n

A friend of the pilot who was killed in the tragic plane crash that also claimed the life of former NASCAR star Greg Biffle has claimed there was a ‘loud pop’ in the moments after takeoff.<\/p>\n

Biffle died along with his wife, Cristina, and their two children, Emma and Ryder, when their private jet crashed in North Carolina<\/a>\u00a0on December 18.<\/p>\n

Seven people lost their lives in total after the\u00a0Cessna C550 jet, owned by Biffle, slammed into the runway\u00a0at Statesville Regional Airport around 10.15am.<\/p>\n

That includes Dennis Dutton – who recently retired from flying for Delta – and his son Jack Dutton and another NASCAR star\u00a0Craig Wadsworth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Dennis Dutton’s former neighbor, Jonathan Donahue, has alleged that the plane made a strange noise in the moments after takeoff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He told The US Sun<\/a>: ‘Dennis had been flying for 40 years. I imagine it was a mechanical error because he was a great leader and such a positive person. I couldn’t imagine anything being his fault.<\/p>\n

\"Greg <\/p>\n

Greg Biffle died with wife Cristina and five others in a North Carolina plane crash in December\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Seven <\/p>\n

Seven lost their lives after Biffle’s jet slammed into the runway at Statesville Regional Airport<\/p>\n

‘All I know is that there was a large, loud pop, like something broke on the plane at takeoff, and he immediately had to turn around and make an emergency landing.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

Biffle’s friend, the former NASCAR racer Kenny Wallace, also suggested that a motor issue in the plane caused the death of his close friend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Here’s what I think,’ he said on his YouTube<\/a> channel. ‘I think the plane took off, I think they lost a motor, and then, I guess it started having a lot of drag on it. In other words\u2026 yes, we know it should fly just perfectly with one motor.<\/p>\n

‘I think we lost a motor. That\u2019s where all the up and down was taking place. They decide to come back. The flaps are down, and they don\u2019t have any horsepower.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘There was so much drag and they had the throttle wide open, they just didn\u2019t make it. I think that\u2019s what happened. They just didn\u2019t make it to the runway.<\/p>\n

‘May the Lord be with everybody, this is a very heartfelt discussion. It was a very tragic loss. Everybody wants to know what happened. I think it was a tragic loss of life and that’s what I respectfully think is what happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘It has been a sad, sad couple of weeks here with the Greg Biffle tragedy.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

An investigation to establish the exact cause of the tragedy is underway. It appears that the traveling party knew something was wrong as Biffle’s mother-in-law,\u00a0Cathy Grossu, told People she received a text from her daughter moments before the crash which said: ‘We’re in trouble.’<\/p>\n

\"Seven <\/p>\n

Seven died in the North Carolina inferno, including Biffle’s two children<\/p>\n

Grossu added: ‘She texted me from the plane and she said, “We’re in trouble.” And that was it. So we’re devastated. We’re brokenhearted.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

The plane initially took off from the airport then circled back before the deadly landing, meaning there might have been a mechanical issue, WCNC’s chief meteorologist Brad Panovich, said after looking at public flight data.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) told the Daily Mail that the Cessna C550 crashed while attempting to land.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cristina’s mom added that the group were heading to Florida for a ‘birthday trip’ when the horrifying crash occurred.<\/p>\n

‘To think that they would be killed on a birthday trip, that was just such a fun time for the family,’ she added. ‘And to see the horrific way that it ended, it’s just, it is so hard to bear. I cannot believe they’re gone.’<\/p>\n

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