NASCAR legend Greg Biffle’s private plane was in the air for just seven minutes and was “incredibly close” to making a safe emergency landing before it suddenly burst into flames — killing all seven on board, experts said.
Biffle, his family and three others all died when the Cessna C550 jet they were on experienced engine problems and crashed just shy of the runway at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina on Thursday afternoon.
The plane had only just taken off from the airport, roughly 45 miles north of Charlotte, when it made an abrupt 180-degree turn and headed back, flight records show.
Cristina Biffle’s mom told People that her daughter had sent her a tragic text message saying, “We’re in trouble,” just moments before the crash.
Aviation expert Max Trescott told the NTSB News Talk podcast that the tracking data showed a “rather unusual” jump after the jet had been in the air for seven minutes.
He noted the pilot did a “remarkable job” making the turn back toward the airport in drizzle and cloudy conditions — but ultimately came short of the runway.
“They got incredibly close and somehow lost things just at the very end,” Trescott said.
His remarks came as federal investigators sifted through the wreckage Friday as they tried to determine who was actually flying the plane and what caused it to try and make an emergency landing so soon after takeoff.
Biffle, his wife, Cristina, and children Ryder, 5, and Emma, 14, were all killed in the crash.
The other victims were identified as Dennis Dutton, Dutton’s son, Jack, and Biffle’s friend, Craig Wadsworth.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
