A preliminary investigation from the National Transportation Safety Board has determined that former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle was not at the controls when his plane crashed in December 2025, killing him and six others.
Retired pilot Dennis Dutton was flying the plane and his son, Jack Dutton, was his co-pilot, according to the NTSB’s report, released on Friday, January 30.
Biffle, who was 55, his wife, Cristina, his 14-year-old daughter, Emma, and his 5-year-old son, Ryder, were killed along with the Duttons and NASCAR motorhome driver Craig Wadsworth on December 18, when a plane owned by Biffle crashed minutes after takeoff at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina.
The report noted that Dennis was licensed to fly the Cessna 550 aircraft, provided he also had a qualified co-pilot. Jack, however, was not qualified to be second-in-command. Neither was Biffle, who also had a pilot’s license.
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The NTSB also released more information about what happened to the plane and how the Duttons responded in the minutes before the crash as they tried to return to the airport. It determined that Dennis was flying the plane when it took off before temporarily handing the controls to his son, then taking them back as they tried to land the plane.
They had tried to return to the airport after discovering a malfunction with the altimeter and determining the “left side flight instruments may not have been working properly.”
“Both engines remained attached to the pylon structures and both thrust reversers were found in the stowed position,” the report continued. “There was no evidence of uncontained engine failure with either engine.”
As the plane attempted to land, it struck trees and light stanchions outside the airport before going through a fence that separates the airport from the main road. The report added there was “heavy charring” on the ground and blackened tree branches and grass from the ensuing fire.
That is consistent with what observers on the ground reported in 911 calls obtained by TMZ in January. One caller, who was golfing at the nearby Lakewood Golf Course told a dispatcher, “We just have a plane fly over our heads and crash into the tree line.”
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Another observed that the plane went “straight downward,” resulting in a “huge explosion.”
The exact cause of the crash is still under investigation. There was no flight data recorder onboard, but one was not required.
Though the preliminary report came around six weeks after the crash, it may be years before the NTSB concludes its investigation, former military pilot Dan Rose told Us Weekly exclusively in December.
“I would say the default from the [National Transportation Safety Board] is probably close to two years with a final report coming out,” Rose said. “The NTSB is pretty good about getting out what’s called a preliminary report in the first few weeks. But it’s very cursory, generally.”
Rose continued, “As somebody who looks at these all the time, you can read between the lines and see generally which way the investigation is going. Is it going mechanical? Is it going pilot error? Is it going weather? That kind of thing.”
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