Seven Lives Lost in North Carolina Plane Accident, Including Former NASCAR Driver Greg Biffle and Family!

The morning of December 18, 2025, began like any other winter Thursday in North Carolina, with a quiet drizzle and a low, gray ceiling of clouds clinging to the foothills. At Statesville Regional Airport, a hub frequently buzzing with the activity of NASCAR teams and corporate travelers, a Cessna C550 business jet taxied toward the runway. On board were seven people, including retired NASCAR champion Greg Biffle, his wife Cristina, and their two children, Ryder and Emma. They were bound for Florida, a routine flight that was supposed to end with an afternoon spent with friends. Instead, it became a tragedy that would leave a void in the hearts of racing fans and families across the nation.

The aircraft, registered to a company owned by Biffle, departed shortly after 10 a.m. Preliminary flight tracking data suggests the flight was troubled almost from the start. After being in the air for approximately seven to ten minutes, the jet reached an altitude of 4,300 feet before its path began to show erratic fluctuations in speed and elevation. For reasons that investigators are still working to determine, the aircraft made a sharp 180-degree turn, banking back toward the airport in a desperate attempt to return to the safety of the runway.