Greg Biffle plane crash: NTSB report indicates Biffle was not flying a plane, the co-pilot was ‘not qualified’ to fly the Cessna Citation 550

The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report on the plane crash that killed former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, his family and three others determined that Biffle was not flying the plane owned by his company GB Aviation Leasing LLC when it crashed on December 18.

According to the report released Friday, the plane was flown by Dennis Dutton, a certified pilot who operates several commercial planes, with his son Jack, in the right cabin seat. Biffle, a licensed pilot with “civilian flight experience that included more than 3,500 hours of flight time,” was seated behind the two and is identified as the rear passenger in the report.

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However, neither Biffle nor Jack Dutton had the license to fly the Cessna Citation. The report notes that Dennis Dutton was licensed to fly the Citation with a second on board, and even though Jack Dutton was a pilot himself he “was not qualified to perform second-in-command duties for the flight,” according to the NTSB, as he had just over 175 hours of single-engine aircraft experience.

Aero Consulting Experts CEO Ross Aimer told Yahoo Sports that Jack Dutton’s lack of qualification was “disturbing” and said the plane required two pilots.

“In this particular case, because it requires two pilots, and neither of those – Biffle or the young man – were qualified, they should have had a licensed pilot in that seat,” Aimer said.

Biffle, his wife Cristina, their son Ryder, Biffle’s daughter Emma, ​​Dennis and Jack Dutton and Craig Wadsworth were on board the plane as it tried to land at Statesville Regional Airport (North Carolina) shortly after leaving the same airport. They were flying to Sarasota, Florida.

The Cessna Citation 550 is a twin-engine plane, and the report says the problems with the plane started before the flight began. Here are the highlights from the NTSB’s findings.

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• The left engine did not initially start until both engines were on at approximately 9:53 am ET. As the aircraft was taxiing for takeoff “the pilot and two copilots discussed that the thrust reverser indicator light(s) for an unspecified engine was inoperative, but that the thrust reverser for the affected engine was operating properly.”

• The plane took off at approximately 10:06 am “During the takeoff roll, the rear passenger commented that the left engine was producing more power than the right and indicated that there may have been a faulty gauge. The pilot continued the takeoff.” The report says it was overcast at about 5,000 feet for the entire flight, although visibility dropped from 10 miles to five miles from 9:54 to 10:15.

• Early GPS data shows that the plane turned left during takeoff and that Dennis Dutton said he would fly under visual flight rules before being cleared to fly under instrument flight rules. After a turn of 180 degrees and reached 2,200 feet, “it continued to turn to the left and began to descend. The passenger of the right seat tried to contact “air traffic control” and activate the IFR flight plan of the flight between 10:08 and 10:10 but was unsuccessful due to the workload of the controller and the associated radio communication.

• At 10:09, Dennis Dutton and Biffle discussed climbing higher even though they were supposed to continue flying under visual flight rules. The report states that “the pilot began takeoff, and shortly thereafter, the rear passenger noticed a difference between the turbine temperature readings between the left and right engine stages.” There were no other discussions covering the instruments during the rest of the [cockpit voice recorder] recording” and the autopilot disengaged – either intentionally or independently – just after 10:10.

• Seconds later, “the cockpit area microphone picked up the pilot making remarks indicating that his altitude indicator was malfunctioning and that additional left side flight instruments may have been malfunctioning.” The onboard Garmin GPS had stopped recording airspeed data and heading data around that time.

• At 10:11 “controls of the aircraft were transferred to the right seat passenger, at an altitude of approximately 4,500 feet msl.” At 10:13, the plane was just under 1,900 feet and all three said they could see the ground. “Although a positive transfer of control of the aircraft was not recorded, subsequent communication between the pilot and the right seat passenger was consistent with the pilot resuming control of the aircraft at that time.” Just after 10:13, the pilot turned the plane right to the west and requested that the landing gear be extended. “Subsequent discussions were consistent with the landing gear being configured, however, the gear indicator lights were not illuminated.”

• Jack Dutton noted shortly before 10:14 on the common traffic advisory frequency that they were “having some issues here.” Biffle refers power to an alternator — the Cessna Citation 550 does not have an alternator. After a brief audio quality issue with the cockpit voice recorder, Dennis Dutton is heard saying there was a “problem” but did not specify what the problem was “or what actions have been taken to correct it.”

• GPS data resumed recording just after 10:14 and Dennis Dutton “made comments indicating that he had acquired the runway visually” at around 10:15. Data from the GPS “showed that the aircraft’s airspeed and altitude continued to decrease from the time the aircraft was aligned with the final approach to the runway until 10:15:18” when the aircraft’s altitude had dropped below 1,000 feet and below 99 KTS.

• The plane struck a light station about 1,400 feet from the threshold of the runway and “a group of damaged trees located about 235 feet” from that light station “were uprooted about 12 feet above ground level. “The first indication of fire was blackened branches and grass near the west side of the trees.”

• “An impression of the ground was observed about 350 feet from the [light station]next to the airport perimeter fence, and extended through the [runway lights]. The debris path continued in a westerly direction through the runway overrun until the main debris came to rest on the runway explosion area approximately 400 feet short of the runway 28 limit.” “A great escape” was seen from the second set of lights “and continued along the remaining length of the debris field to the ruins.”

• The engines remained attached to the aircraft after it stopped and the two thrust reversers were in the stowed position. Investigators found “no evidence of unconfined engine failure with either engine. Examination of the cockpit throttle quadrant found that both thrust levers were in the full forward position and both reverse throttle levers were in the down position, consistent with being stowed.”

Biffle competed for 16 full or part-time seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2002 to 2022. He raced full-time in the Cup Series from 2003 to 2016 and had 19 wins and 92 top-five finishes in 515 career starts.

His best season came in 2005, when he finished second to Tony Stewart in the points standings. Biffle’s six wins were the most of anyone in the Cup Series that season and his 11.9 average was second only to Stewart.

Biffle is one of only two drivers to win both a championship in the third-tier NASCAR Truck Series and the second-tier NASCAR Xfinity Series.