Greg Biffle and his family were aboard the plane that crashed at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina, Cleetus McFarland confirmed.
Former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his family were on board the Cessna C550 aircraft as it crashed at Statesville Regional Airport in Statesville, North Carolina, on Wednesday morning, CNN reported citing sources.
Meanwhile, the Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell said that there were fatalities in the plane crash. “I can confirm there were fatalities,” he said, without clarifying how many. CNN reported that sources briefed on the situation told them that all on board died in the crash.
“Unfortunately, I can confirm Greg Biffle, his wife Cristina, daughter Emma and son Ryder were on the plane…because they were on their way to spend the afternoon with us,” McFarland, aka Garett Mitchell, wrote. “We are devastated. I’m so sorry to share this.”
The Cessna C550, registered to a company owned by Biffle, crashed shortly takeoff from the airport in Iredell County, North Carolina around 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday. Six people were on board the aircraft, the FAA confirmed.
Flight tracking data showed that the Cessna plane had a day-long journey to Florida planned, with a return to Statesville by evening.
It was on the way to Sarasota, Florida, followed by Treasure Cay International Airport in the Bahamas. It was then supposed to return to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and then return to Statesville by evening.
It’s unclear what caused the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash.
However, it was cloudy with a bit of drizzle at the airport when the plane took off from Statesville, AP reported, citing AccuWeather data. The plane reportedly took off and attempted to land again but crashed during landing.
It erupted into massive flames as first responders rushed, videos from the scene broadcasted by local media showed.
