Federal investigators are trying to figure out why a business jet carrying retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle 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.
Watch the NTSB’s remarks in the video player above.
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed it is aware of a brief text from a passenger on board the aircraft to a family member that read, “emergency landing.”
“We are still gathering information related to the pilots on board the aircraft, and I do not have any additional information to relay on who was in the left seat at this time,” NTSB board member Michael Graham said.
READ MORE: NTSB investigates jet crash that killed former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and 6 others
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’s runway. They also don’t know who the was the lead pilot. Biffle was one of three people on board with a pilot’s license.
The jet had departed Statesville Regional Airport, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Charlotte, 10 minutes earlier, but crashed while trying to return and land, authorities said.
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.
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’s son, Jack — who had a private pilot’s license for single-engine planes — and Biffle’s friend Craig Wadsworth.
Biffle, 55, won more than 50 races across NASCAR’s 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.
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.
