A private jet crashed at a North Carolina regional airport and burst into flames Thursday, killing seven people, including retired NASCAR star Greg Biffle and three of his family members, officials said.
Here are some things you should know about the crash.
what happened
The plane took off Thursday morning from Statesville Regional Airport, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Charlotte. Shortly after takeoff, the jet turned back to the airport and crashed while trying to land, according to tracking data posted by FlightAware.com.
Video from WSOC-TV showed first responders running onto the runway, where flames burned past scattered wreckage.
Investigators said it is too early to determine what caused the crash. At that time there was some rain and clouds, according to AccuWeather.
Statesville Regional Airport offers corporate aviation facilities for Fortune 500 companies and several NASCAR teams, according to its website.
Who was on board?
According to a joint statement issued by the families of the victims, there were seven people on the plane, including Greg Biffle; his wife, Cristina Grossu Biffle; their son, Ryder; and Greg Biffle’s daughter, Emma.
The statement identified the other victims as Craig Wadsworth, Dennis Dutton and Dutton’s son, Jack, all “beloved by many in the NASCAR community.”
“Each one of them meant everything to us, and their absence leaves an immeasurable void in our lives,” said the statement.
Biffle, 55, has won more than 50 races on NASCAR’s three circuits, including 19 at the Cup level. He also won championships in both the lower-level National Truck Series and Xfinity Series — the first driver to do so — and spent nearly his entire career driving for Roush Fenway Racing, located about 40 miles south of the crash site.
Wadsworth, a longtime employee behind the scenes with several NASCAR teams, was friends with Biffle and had helped with odd jobs, including delivering supplies to areas hit by Hurricane Helene a year ago, according to Wadsworth’s teammate, Benito Howell.
Biffle joins a somber roll of athletes who have died in plane or helicopter crashes.
What kind of plane was it?
The plane was a Cessna C550, a popular mid-size business jet with an excellent reputation, aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said. Flight records show the plane was registered to a company run by Greg Biffle.
The plane was scheduled to fly to Sarasota, Florida, and then to Treasure Cay airport in the Bahamas before returning.
Biffle’s plane was built in 1981 and probably cost between $1 million and $10 million, depending on how it was outfitted, Guzzetti said. The Cessna 550 Citation has two engines and typically seats six to eight passengers.