Greg Biffle and family killed in North Carolina plane crash, FOX News reports
Authorities say a business jet crashed while landing at a regional airport in Statesville, North Carolina, erupting in a large fire. (WBTV-TV via FOX)
FOX News, citing a social media post by Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C, is reporting retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, his wife and children were killed when their Cessna C550 jet crashed Thursday around 10:20 a.m. while landing at the Statesville Regional Airport and erupted in a large fire.
"I can confirm there were fatalities," Iredell County Sheriff Grant Campbell said.
NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace shared a photo of the family with a prayer emoji on social media.
What we know:
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says there were six people on board. According to flight-tracking website FlightAware, the plane, identified as a Cessna C550 with the tail number N257BW, had taken off from Statesville just eight minutes before the crash and data suggests they were returning to the airport when the crash happened.
The plane had planned to fly later from Sarasota, Florida, to Treasure Cay International Airport in the Bahamas before returning to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and then to Statesville by evening, data showed.
The plane is owned by GB Aviation Leasing LLC, according to federal aviation records. The company is owned by Biffle.
AccuWeather says there was some drizzle and clouds at the time of the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are investigating to determine what caused the crash.
Airport officials said the airport is closed, and it will take a while to get the debris off the runway.
FOX News Digital confirmed that NASCAR driver Greg Biffle owned the plane that crashed.
The Statesville Regional Airport is about 45 miles north of Charlotte.
Dig deeper:
The Statesville Regional Airport is a general aviation airport owned by the City of Statesville in Iredell County, which is about 45 miles north of Charlotte.
The airport says on its website that Statesville Regional Airport provides corporate aviation facilities for Fortune 500 companies and several NASCAR teams.
This is a developing story. Check back for more updates.
The Source: Information in this article was sourced from FOX News and The Associated Press. This story was reported from Orlando.