NTSB Focuses on Pilot Verification Amidst Ongoing Investigation into Fatal Greg Biffle Aircraft Incident

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) continues its comprehensive investigation into the tragic aircraft incident that claimed the lives of NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and five other individuals. In a press conference held on Saturday, NTSB Board Member Michael Graham provided a brief update, emphasizing that a key area of focus remains the verification of who was piloting the aircraft during the critical moments leading up to the crash.

The incident, which occurred on Thursday morning, resulted in the fatalities of Greg Biffle, his wife, their two children, and two other individuals. By Friday, the NTSB had officially commenced its inquiry at the Statesville Regional Airport. However, at that early stage, details were scarce as preliminary interviews and data acquisition were just beginning.

The Saturday briefing, again led by Board Member Michael Graham and Investigator-In-Charge Dan Baker, reiterated the limited information available. "We still do not know the circumstances which led the aircraft… to attempt to return to the airport," Graham stated. "But that is the focus of our investigation."

One piece of information that was confirmed during the Saturday update, and which had been previously reported, was a text message exchange involving Cristina Grossu Biffle, the wife of the former NASCAR star. Cathy Grossu, Cristina’s mother, told CBS on Friday that she had communicated with her daughter via text message on the morning of the incident.

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"Then she said something like ‘We’re in trouble, emergency landing.’ And I texted back, ‘What’s wrong with the plane?’" Grossu recounted to the network. "Then the next thing was (the SOS alert) that you get from your automatic Apple phones when you have an accident or something. And so I knew that something was wrong."

Graham confirmed on Saturday that the NTSB was now aware of this communication. "This morning, I can confirm that the NTSB is aware of one brief text message from a passenger aboard the aircraft to a family member that read ’emergency landing’ (but) we are not aware of any other communications from passengers on board the aircraft to those on the ground," he stated. He clarified that he had not been aware of this specific message during an earlier press conference on Friday and had subsequently received the details.

A central question that the NTSB is working to definitively answer is the identity of the pilot during the approximately 10-minute flight from takeoff to the attempted emergency return to the airport. Greg Biffle himself was a licensed pilot. Additionally, Dennis and Jack Dutton were also on board and held pilot licenses. The other passengers included Biffle’s 14-year-old daughter Emma (from his first marriage to Nicole Lunders), his 5-year-old son Ryder, and long-time NASCAR associate Craig Wadsworth.

"I do not have any additional information about who was in the left seat at the time," Graham admitted. "We do anticipate that all the information about all the pilot-rated occupants will be included in our preliminary report." This preliminary report is expected within 30 days, while the NTSB’s final analysis, which will include the probable cause, is anticipated to take between 12 to 18 months to complete.

Graham indicated that while the NTSB possesses a degree of confidence regarding the pilot’s identity, verification is a crucial step before any official pronouncement. "At this point, we have a lot of really good information," Graham said. "We’re fairly confident with the left seat occupant but we need to verify that. We need to be accurate in what we do. And from a survival standpoint, which is part of what we investigate, we want to know where everyone was sitting and that is a little more difficult in a crash like this."

In the 12 hours between the NTSB’s Friday and Saturday press conferences, investigators conducted numerous witness interviews and continued to validate the evidence collected at the crash site.

"Early indication from multiple sources indicate that the plane was stable on approach, configured for landing with the landing lights on," Graham reported. "But the aircraft was coming in low." He added that this observation is consistent with the debris field being surveyed by the NTSB team, which includes the initial points of impact on a runway light stanchion located approximately 1,800 feet from the runway threshold.

Despite these visual confirmations, Graham stated that there is not yet enough technical evidence to definitively explain why the aircraft was at such a low altitude during its approach. "It did look like the aircraft was configured properly for landing but it was low in the videos," Graham said. "But we have no other indication over what went wrong at this time."

Since the Friday update, the NTSB has meticulously documented the debris field, the condition of the aircraft wreckage, the locations of various components, and the flight controls. The flight voice recorder has been transported to NTSB headquarters in Washington, D.C., where specialists are working to recover its data.

Among the items collected from the wreckage for analysis are:

• Various aircraft components
• Flight control surfaces
• The flight data recorder (FDR)
• The cockpit voice recorder (CVR)

"All of these are being sent to NTSB recorders labs in Washington, D.C.," Graham explained. "We will determine whether data and relevant information can be recovered from these units." He anticipates that this recovered data will be instrumental in determining the probable cause of the incident.

The NTSB has also received the aircraft’s maintenance logs. This information, combined with the recovered flight data and physical evidence, will be used to reconstruct the aircraft’s weight and balance calculations and to assess the impact loads sustained during the crash.

Both engines of the aircraft have undergone initial analysis. A drone was utilized on Friday to survey the crash site amidst challenging, windy conditions, but the aerial data acquisition was not completed until Saturday morning once the weather stabilized.

The investigation is proceeding methodically, with the NTSB committed to a thorough and accurate reconstruction of the events leading to this tragic loss of life. The aviation community and NASCAR fans alike await further details as the NTSB works to provide answers in the wake of this devastating incident.

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