Former Nascar driver Greg Biffle and his family are believed to have died when their Cessna Citation corporate jet crashed just minutes after taking off from a regional airport in North Carolina.
“Although the post-crash fire prevents us from releasing a definitive list of the occupants at this time, it is believed that Mr. Gregory Biffle and members of his immediate family were occupants of the airplane,” the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said in a statement Thursday.
A definitive list of the victims will be released once their identities have been confirmed by the medical examiner’s office, the highway patrol said. The Federal Aviation Administration said earlier in a preliminary statement that there were six victims but later updated the count to seven.
“Nascar is devastated by the tragic loss of Greg Biffle, his wife Cristina, daughter Emma, son Ryder, Craig Wadsworth and Dennis and Jack Dutton in a fatal plane crash,” the racing organization said. “Beyond his racing career, he gave of himself for the betterment of our community. Most notably, Greg spent countless hours of his time helping the citizens of North Carolina during the disasters that followed Hurricane Helene. His tireless work saved lives.”
FlightRadar24 data shows the plane taking off from Statesville Regional Airport north of Charlotte at 10:07 a.m., climbing to 2,000 feet (610 meters) and then looping back to the airport where it attempted to land. The jet crashed while trying to land around 10:20 a.m., the FAA said.
Images on social media showed a burning aircraft on a runway.
Photo: A Cessna 550 Citation II, similar to the one that crashed Thursday. (AdobeStock)
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