A former NASCAR driver has been identified as one of seven people who died in a plane crash in the southern United States.
Authorities said Greg Biffle and members of his family died when a private jet crashed on Thursday while trying to land at Statesville Regional Airport, north of Charlotte, North Carolina.
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Flight records showed the plane was registered to a company run by Biffle.
“Although the post-crash fire prevents us from releasing a definitive list of the occupants at this time, it is believed that Mr Gregory Biffle and members of his immediate family were occupants of the airplane,” state police said.
Further details about the victims were not immediately available.
Throughout his 16-year career, Biffle won over over 50 races across the three racing-circuit types offered by NASCAR, a US-based association for car races.
He placed first in 19 races at the Cup Series, considered NASCAR’s top level. He also won the Trump Series championship in 2000 and the Xfinity Series title in 2002.
Biffle’s plane had taken off from the airport shortly after 10 am local time on Thursday (15:00 GMT), but it then returned to North Carolina and was attempting to land there, according to tracking data posted by FlightAware.com.
Video from WSOC-TV showed first responders rushing onto the runway as flames burned near scattered wreckage from the plane.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were investigating the crash.
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All told, the NTSB has investigated 1,331 crashes in the US in 2025.
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