NTSB Provides Update On Greg Biffle Plane Crash: “Unable To Verify Who Was Flying The Airplane”

Still searching for a lot of answers.

The investigation has just begun into the tragic plane crash that killed retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle yesterday at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina.

The private Cessna Citation II with tail number N257BW crashed just minutes after taking off from the airport. According to flight tracking data, the plane took off at around 10:06 AM eastern time from runway 10, but just minutes later made a turn back towards the airport in an apparent attempt to land on runway 28.

It also appears based on the flight tracker data that they initially tried to land on runway 10, but flew past the runway for whatever reason (presumably either from having too much speed or being too high off the ground) so they then circled back in an attempt to land on runway 28.

The plane was headed to Sarasota, Florida to visit Cleetus McFarland, who was hosting his Christmas Tree Drags race at Bradenton Motorsports Park on December 20, before heading to the Bahamas later in the evening. 

Officials confirmed that there were seven casualties in the crash, and yesterday afternoon the families of the victims released a joint statement confirming their identities as Biffle; his wife Cristina Grossu; their son Ryder; Biffle’s daughter Emma, from his previous marriage to Nicole Lunders; pilot Dennis Dutton and his son, Jack Dutton; and longtime NASCAR crew member Craig Wadsworth.

According to Grossu’s mother, the family was headed out on a birthday trip to Biffle, who would have turned 56 this week, but her daughter texted her moments before the crash with a harrowing message:

“We’re in trouble.”

This afternoon, officials from the NTSB provided an update on the investigation into the tragic plane crash, providing details about the flight and the aircraft while also emphasizing that the investigation is still in the very early stages.

According to NTSB board member Michael Graham, the plane was built in 1981, though he emphasized that there are much older aircraft that are flying and that the age of the plane isn’t nearly as important to their investigation as the maintenance of the aircraft.

NTSB investigator in charge Dan Baker says that the plane initially impacted a runway light stanchion about 1,800 feet from the runway, before crashing into some trees and a fence surrounding the airport before coming to rest just short of the runway.

At this time, investigators are still working to determine whether there were any communications with the aircraft during the flight. (Statesville Airport is an uncontrolled airport, meaning there’s no control tower that the plane would have been in communication with, though there may have been communications on other general frequencies).

To their knowledge, investigators say they aren’t aware that the pilot made a mayday call – and as of right now, they aren’t even sure who the pilot in command was.

Three of the victims on the plane were licensed pilots, including Biffle, Dennis Dutton and Jack Dutton. According to FAA records, Biffle had received his certification to fly multi-engine aircrafts like the one involved in the crash back in March, while Dutton is a former airline transport pilot who also would have been certified to fly that particular type of plane. However, neither would have been able to be the sole pilot on the flight.

Graham did note, however, that the aircraft could be flown with a single pilot with a waiver from the FAA, which would be part of their investigation.

Jack Dutton, meanwhile, also had his pilot’s license but was only certified to fly single-engine aircraft.

At this point, it’s too early to say who was the pilot in command of the aircraft and who was actually controlling the plane during the flight, though it’s safe to say that it was probably either Biffle or Dennis Dutton, or a combination of both. There’s no doubt that details from the cockpit voice recorder, or the “black box,” will provide a lot more information about what happened, and investigators confirmed that’s already been recovered and has been sent back to Washington, D.C. for analysis.

Unfortunately we don’t have a ton of details right now, other than something clearly went wrong during the short flight and the pilot (or pilots) were attempting to return to the airport to land shortly after takeoff. Whether it was a failure with the flight controls or something with the engines, we’ll just have to wait and see.

The NTSB says that a preliminary report should be available in about 30 days, but the final report detailing their findings will likely take between 12 to 18 months to complete.

It’s still just hard to process at this point, and so heartbreaking for all the families involved. But now, the search for answers begins to hopefully prevent tragedies like this from happening in the future.

The post NTSB Provides Update On Greg Biffle Plane Crash: “Unable To Verify Who Was Flying The Airplane” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.