Morphett Vale man Leo Howard, 53, died in the crash alongside an 18-year-old man from Freeling and a 20-year-old man from Pasadena, police said.
A Surf Life Saving boat on Friday evening. (ABC News: Caroline Horn)
Mr Howard’s family, who has given ABC permission to use his name and image, provided a statement on Saturday afternoon.
“Leo was a highly respected and experienced pilot,” sister Mercedes Howard said.
“He was a loved family man, son, father and brother.
“We are devastated at this time and send our condolences to the other families involved.”
Wreckage of a plane that crashed has been recovered near Goolwa South. (ABC News: Brant Cumming)
Senior Constable Rebecca Stokes told ABC Radio Adelaide that police would prepare a report for the coroner.
“The wreckage of that single-engine Cessna 210 aircraft has been brought into shore near the Murray Mouth,” she said.
“Tragic news for three families in South Australia today.”
Four investigators from the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau (ATSB) have been sent from Canberra to Goolwa todayand have launched a safety investigation into the incident.
Emergency services responded to the plane crash at Goolwa South on Friday afternoon. (Supplied: Gary Juleff)
In a statement, ATSB Acting Chief Commissioner Colin McNamara said once they arrived, investigators would examine the recovered aircraft wreckage.
“Over coming days, investigators will also interview witnesses and involved parties, and obtain any available flight track data and aircraft and maintenance records,” he said.
“Any aircraft components of interest will also be recovered to our Canberra technical facilities for further examination.”
Mr McNamara said the ATSB was aware of a number of video footage that showed moments before the crash and has asked anyone with recordings of the plane “at any stage of its flight” to contact the bureau.
Quick response after crash
ABC reporter Caroline Horn said police worked into the night to search the area.
“Police divers entered the water just before dark and undertook that search and at about 2:30 this morning a helicopter was called to the area,” she said.
Emergency services near the Goolwa Barrage on Friday evening. (ABC News: Caroline Horn)
“It is quite remote, but there were people fishing in the area. It’s a very popular fishing spot because it’s where the mouth of the Murray River runs out.”
Milang local Sam Rohloff said he was fishing near the Murray Mouth when he saw the plane begin to spiral.
“We thought you know how they spiral and usually pull back up, but this thing was coming down pretty hard, it just spiralled out of control and smashed straight into the water,” Mr Rohloff said.
Sam Rohloff says he was fishing when he witnessed the plane crash. (Supplied: Gary Juleff)
“It was a couple of hundred metres offshore … It was pretty much like an explosion, massive waves everywhere.”
Mr Rohloff said he immediately called emergency services.
“I just grabbed my phone straight away and got onto Triple Zero,” he said.
Surf Life Saving SA’s Matthew Burrage was one of the first volunteers on the Jet Rescue Boat Service who arrived at the crash site within 20 minutes.
But he said trying to find the aircraft in the water was “extremely difficult” amid challenging conditions.
Sean Faulkner (left) and Matthew Burrage speak about Surf Life Saving SA’s search efforts overnight. (ABC News: Sophie Holder)
“Due to the moving current of the River Murray as well as the surf zone coming in, that search area can be quite extensive,” he said.
“The surf zone was in excess of 400 metres, trying to find somebody probably you’re looking at at least a square kilometre of the search pattern in the surf.”
Sean Faulkner, Surf Life Saving SA’s general manager of public safety and member service, said the jet rescue boats took part in the search and supported police operations throughout the night.
“Without the unique capabilities of that jet rescue boat and the amazing skills of the crews themselves, I don’t know how SAPOL would have completed that very difficult task last night,” he said.
“There are members of our community today who are hurting as a result of the tragedy yesterday, and our thoughts are with all the friends and families of those impacted.”
Ramesses Vazquez-Viana was just 9 years old when a medical jet crashed in Northeast Philadelphia and burned most of the young boy’s body.
Six people traveling on the plane and two people on the ground were killed, and two dozen people were injured in the aftermath of the tragic accident, which decimated homes and cars near Roosevelt Boulevard and Cottman Avenue.
As one of the youngest survivors of the crash, Ramesses’ story of strength and positivity has touched people around the country. The now-10-year-old still has a long road ahead of him, but one year later, his recovery has been nothing short of a miracle.
Here’s a look back at Ramesses’ journey.
“I ask for prayers”
A few days after the deadly crash, Virgen Viera identified her grandson Ramesses as the person seen running through the street while on fire in videos and photos posted on social media.
“In an instant when I see him, I say, ‘That’s him,’” Viera told CBS News Philadelphia.
Photo of 9-year-old Ramesses, who was burned in the Philadelphia plane crash
Virgen Viera
Ramesses’ dad’s car caught on fire after the plane crashed near the Roosevelt Mall on Jan. 31, 2025. His father, identified as Steven Dreuitt, was killed. Dreuitt’s girlfriend, Dominique Goods-Burke, was also in the car at the time of the crash and died from her injuries several months later.
Despite more than 90% of his body being burned, Ramesses managed to climb out of the car’s open window. Witnesses helped get the 9-year-old to safety, and the next day, he was airlifted to a burn center in Boston, Massachusetts.
“I ask for prayers. He is strong and my faith in God is big,” his mom posted on social media.
Recovery continues in Boston
For the next four months, Ramesses continued to fight for his life at Shriners Children’s Hospital in Boston. By May, Jamie Vazquez Viana said her son already undergone multiple surgeries, including partial amputations on both of his hands.
Because of the extent of his burns, Jamie said her son will likely need skin grafts for years as he grows.
“He can hear me. He can see me,” she said. “He can tell you if he’s in pain.”
Photos showed Ramesses propped up in his hospital bed, connected to tubes and wires, wrapped in bandages from head to toe.
“Not everybody in the family is comfortable with seeing him like that,” Jamie said. “It’s shocking.”
Doctors called Ramesses survival a miracle; only his feet were spared from the burns.
Ramesses Vasquez Viana
CBS Philadelphia
“I’m going to stay here until it’s time to go,” said Jamie, who had several other children still at home in Philadelphia. “Philadelphia and everyone else has come together for him. Continuing praying. He still needs it.”
Back at home, Ramesses’ classmates and teachers said it was “tough” not having their friend and student in class. Ramesses was in third grade at Mastery Charter Smedley Elementary School in Frankford when he was burned.
Assistant Principal Danielle Nicoletti said his class kept Ramesses’ desk ready for the day he could come back, and hosted fundraisers to support his family.
The class sent Ramesses handmade origami cards, his favorite Philly snacks, and sold bracelets to raise money. The school also asked people to record read-alongs of Ramesses’ favorite books, and had students and staff wear yellow in his honor.
Firefighters in Philadelphia also collected donations for Ramesses and his family and wrote handwritten notes to be delivered in Boston.”
“I feel happy that I’m able to still do the things I do”
In October, Ramesses turned 10 years old. Though he was still in the hospital in Boston, Ramesses had lots to celebrate on his road to recovery.
He started wiggling his fingers and toes, his hearing and sight improved, and after six months, he was able to tell his mom, “I love you.”
“I cried,” Jamie said. “Half of Philly was crying with me that day.”
After 42 surgeries and months of intense treatment, Ramesses was moved to the Weisman Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital in Marlton, New Jersey, where he practiced climbing stairs, getting out of bed and walking in physical therapy.
Ramesses practicing walking during physical therapy
CBS Philadelphia
In November, Ramesses progressed so much that he was able to sit down for his first television interview with CBS News Philadelphia’s Wakisha Bailey.
“I feel happy that I’m able to still do the things I do,” he said.
His mom, Jamie, said Ramesses remembered everything that happened the night of the plane crash, and that he tried to save his dad from their burning car. “He said he remembers two big booms — like two crashes at once,” she said. “He tried to get his dad out of the car, but he couldn’t. His dad told him to get out … said, ‘I love you.’ And he said, ‘I love you back.’”
Ramesses Vasquez Viana
CBS Philadelphia
Even in the face of immense heartbreak, Ramesses had this message for anyone going through hard times: “I want them to know God is there,” he said. “You may not hear him, but he’s listening, and he’s helping.”
Home for Christmas
Eleven months after the Northeast Philadelphia plane crash, Ramesses was finally headed home. In December, Smedley Elementary celebrated Ramesses with a pep rally, where CBS News correspondent David Begnaud helped surprise Jamie with a new car courtesy of David Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram in Glen Mills.
The school was also given a $50,000 check from Canva.
“I’ve been here for 16 years, and we’ve never had more of a need with our students and less of a budget,” Principal Caitlin Murphy said. “It couldn’t have come at a better time.”
While Ramesses couldn’t attend the celebration in person, several of his friends visited him before the event, where they laughed and joked as little boys do.
Ramesses Dreuitt Vazquez was in his family’s car last January when a medical transport plane crashed, and the car caught on fire. His dad and his dad’s girlfriend died from their injuries. Vazquez was saved by a stranger, but sustained burns on 90% of his body.
CBS News
“I was praying so hard we’d be home for Christmas,” Jamie Vazquez-Viana said. “I just wanted my three boys with me.”
One year later
After being released from Weisman Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital in December, Ramesses started school with virtual classes a few days a week.
One year after the crash, Ramesses is back in Boston for another surgery that’ll keep him in the hospital for about five weeks.
Once home, his family tells CBS News Philadelphia that Ramesses will go back to Smedley after he recovers and heads home to Philly.
National Transportation Safety Board members were deeply troubled Tuesday over years of ignored warnings about helicopter traffic dangers and other problems, long before last year’s collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk, which killed 67 people.
The board listened to hours of testimony from investigators who outlined their findings in the collision and subsequent crash near Reagan National Airport nearly a year ago. Key factors emerged, including “overwhelmed” air traffic controllers, a failure to alert the jet’s pilot about the other aircraft and a history of missed opportunities to reroute helicopter traffic.
“We know people were raising the concerns, people were saying this was dangerous five, 10 years ago, and nobody was really listening,” NTSB member Todd Inman said of staffing.
In her opening remarks, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said it was a series of “deep, underlying systemic failures” that “aligned to create the conditions that led to the crash.”
Homendy also called the “similarities” between the D.C. crash and previous such disasters — including a 1969 midair collision that killed 83 people near Shelbyville, Indiana, and a 2019 midair collision that killed six people in Ketchikan, Alaska — “chilling.”
“We could have blamed flight crews, individual pilots, maintenance personnel or controllers, but we didn’t because we have long, long recognized that human error is a symptom of a system that needs to be redesigned,” Homedy said of the three crashes.
At one point during the hearing, Inman said he had responded to 91 aviation fatality incidents in 2025.
“I did 13 family briefings, and I am tired of doing them,” Inman said to the families of the victims at the hearing. “And I am sorry for you, because the pages of these reports are written in your family members’ blood. So with that again, I am sorry that we have to be here.”
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy and other board members Todd Inman and Michael Graham listen to testimony during a board meeting on Jan. 27, 2026, in Washington, D.C.
Bonnie Cash-Pool / Getty Images
Family members in the room listened intently during the hearing. Some were escorted out, including two in tears, as an animation of the flights began. Others entered the auditorium wearing black shirts bearing the names of crash victims.
“The negligence of not fixing things that needed to be fixed killed my brother and 66 other people. So, I’m not very happy,” Kristen Miller-Zahn, who watched from the front row, said during a break.
The NTSB’s job at this point is to determine the biggest factors in the crash and make recommendations. Victims’ families say they hope there’s meaningful change.
Everyone aboard the jet, flying from Wichita, Kansas, and the helicopter died when the two aircraft collided and plummeted into the icy Potomac River. It was the deadliest plane crash on U.S. soil since 2001, and the victims included 28 members of the figure skating community.
The Federal Aviation Administration last week made a permanent change to ensure helicopters and planes no longer share the same airspace around the airport.
Recommendations to move the helicopter routing away from the airport after a near midair collision in 2013 were rejected by the FAA.
“We should be angry, because for years no one listened,” Homendy told reporters prior to the hearing. “This was preventable, this was 100% preventable.”
Homendy said she couldn’t believe the FAA didn’t realize the helicopter route in use during the crash didn’t provide adequate separation from planes landing on Reagan’s secondary runway. She noted that the FAA had refused to add detailed information about helicopter routes to pilots’ charts so they could better understand the risks.
“We know over time concerns were raised repeatedly, went unheard, squashed — however you want to put it — stuck in red tape and bureaucracy of a very large organization,” Homendy said. “Repeated recommendations over the years.”
NTSB investigator Katherine Wilson said an air traffic controller felt a “little overwhelmed” when traffic volume increased to 10 aircraft about 10 to 15 minutes before the collision, but then “felt the volume was manageable when one or two helicopters left the airspace.”
Yet about 90 seconds before the collision, Wilson said, “traffic volume increased to a maximum of 12 aircraft consisting of seven airplanes and five helicopters. Radio communication showed that the local controller was shifting focus between airborne, ground and transiting aircraft.”
The workload “reduced his situational awareness,” Wilson said.
Wilson also noted that their investigation found that the Reagan controllers working during the midair crash had not undergone a specific training workshop that may have helped them be more prepared for the situation.
NTSB investigator Brice Banning said the pilots of both aircraft were qualified, had adequate rest and no medical conditions that would have barred them from flying. He also said both aircraft had been properly equipped and maintained.
They also reiterated previous findings that the helicopter pilots were likely flying at a higher altitude than the chopper’s altimeter was reading. The collision occurred at about 300 feet, while the maximum altitude for helicopters on that route near the airport is 200 feet.
NTSB investigator Dr. Jana Price said interviews with current and former Reagan tower staff found that morale at the tower “had been low for years” prior to the crash. She said that appeared to be due to a 2018 decision by the FAA to downgrade the DCA tower from a level 10 to a level 9 facility, which is a metric based on the volume of air traffic an airport receives.
NTSB investigator Brian Soper explained that downgrading the facility meant it “cannot attract the experience or get the talent” that is needed “to run a very complex air traffic control operation.”
NTSB investigators also showed a video animation to demonstrate how difficult it would have been for the pilots in both aircraft to spot the other amid the lights of Washington. The animation also showed how the windshields of both aircraft and the helicopter crew’s night vision goggles restricted views.
NTSB investigators believe the helicopter pilots never saw the airliner, and they said it appears the airline pilots may not have spotted the chopper until about two seconds before the collision.
The Reagan controller received a conflict alert when the two aircraft were still 1.6 miles apart, the NTSB investigators testified, and said an urgent safety alert that they were on a collision course should have been given at that point.
“The controller should have issued a safety, would have been the most appropriate thing at that time,” Soper said.
Doug Lane, whose wife and son — Christine Lane and Spencer Lane — were killed in the crash, told CBS News outside the hearing that “100%, I feel like the FAA failed me and my family.”
Rachel Feres, who lost her cousin Peter Livingston and his wife and two young daughters, told the Associated Press she was hoping for “clarity and urgency” from the NTSB process.
“I hope that we see a clear path through the recommendations they offer to ensure that this never happens again,” Feres said. “That nobody else has to wake up to hear that an entire branch of their family tree is gone, or their wife is gone or the child is gone.”
Whether that happens depends on how Congress, the Army and the Trump administration respond after the hearing. A pending bill would require all aircraft to have advanced locator systems to help avoid collisions.
Price said NTSB investigators also found the FAA is not using a standardized approach for how it defines near-miss events between aircraft.
“It’s something that we think is necessary, to have more of a standard definition of what constitutes a close proximity event, so that there can be a way of comparing one airport to another, or looking at trends over time, rather than what is kind of a hodgepodge, if you will, right now, of different ways of measuring this,” Price said.
Even before Tuesday, the NTSB had already spelled out many key factors that contributed to the crash. Investigators said controllers in the Reagan tower had been overly reliant on asking pilots to spot other aircraft and maintain visual separation.
The night of the crash, the controller approved the Black Hawk’s request to do that twice. However, the investigation has shown that the helicopter pilots likely never spotted the American Airlines plane as the jet circled to land on the little-used secondary runway.
In a statement Tuesday, the FAA said it has reduced hourly plane arrivals at Reagan airport from 36 to 30 and increased staff. The agency said it has 22 certified controllers in the tower and eight more in training.
“We will diligently consider any additional recommendations” from the NTSB, the FAA said.
Several high-profile crashes and close calls followed the D.C. collision, alarming the flying public. But NTSB statistics show that the total number of crashes last year was the lowest since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, with 1,405 nationwide.
Bangor, Maine — A private aircraft carrying eight people crashed on takeoff Sunday night at Maine’s Bangor International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The Bombardier Challenger 600 crashed around 7:45 p.m., and there was no immediate word on the conditions of those aboard. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
The crash occurred as New England and much of the country grappled with a massive winter storm. Bangor had undergone steady snowfall Sunday along with many other parts of the country.
There was on initial word on the plane’s destination.
The airport issued a statement that emergency crews were on the scene at the airport, which was closed after what it described as an incident involving a single aircraft departing the airport.
According to LiveATC.net, which broadcasts air traffic controllers’ statements, one said there was “a passenger aircraft upside down.”
Bangor International Airport, some 200 miles north of Boston, offers direct flights to cities like Orlando, Florida, Washington, D.C., and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Throughout the weekend, the vast storm dumped sleet, freezing rain and snow across much of the eastern half of the U.S., halting much air and road traffic and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the Southeast.
Commercial air traffic was also heavily disrupted around much of the U.S.
More than 11,000 flights were canceled Sunday and nearly 5,500 were delayed, according to the flight tracker flightaware.com. Airports in Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, North Carolina, New York and New Jersey were among those impacted.
The Bombardier Challenger 600 is a wide-bodied business jet configured for 9 to 11 passengers. It was launched in 1980 as the first private jet with a “walk-about cabin” and remains a popular charter option, according to aircharterservice.com.
Even now, 29 days later, it is an almost unimaginable tragedy.
On Dec. 18, 2025, seven lives were lost in a plane crash in Statesville, 40 miles north of Charlotte. We still don’t know why.
We do know who, though, and hundreds of people came together Friday morning at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte for a memorial service to remember the seven people killed in Statesville. Everyone was there to celebrate the lives of former NASCAR racer Greg Biffle, his wife, Cristina; his children Emma and Ryder, his best friend Craig Wadsworth, and Jack and Dennis Dutton, who were father and son.
Michael Clinton of Cherryville walks beside one of former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle’s race cars parked outside Bojangles Coliseum on Friday in Charlotte. Three of Biffle’s old race cars were displayed outside prior to a service to remember the seven people killed in a plane crash on Dec. 18, 2025, in Statesville. Biffle, his wife and his two children all lost their lives in the crash. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
The 85-minute service came in front of a crowd of about 600 people. It was open to the public, and so it drew a wide range of mourners. There were men and women in black suits. There were whole families wearing boots, jeans and hoodies. Many of the mourners kept their coats on — it’s hockey season at Bojangles Coliseum, home of the Charlotte Checkers, and the temperature inside wasn’t a whole lot different than the frigid January air they walked through outside.
But people forgot the temperature as they listened to NASCAR luminaries including Jeff Burton and Phil Parsons eulogize the seven. Other speakers included Greg Biffle’s niece Jordyn Biffle, and his close friend Garrett Mitchell (also known as the YouTube star Cleetus McFarland).
“He lived life fast and fully, and he loved to make people smile,” Jordyn Biffle said at the service. She was talking about her uncle Greg at that point, but the comment could have been made about any of the seven who died, really. They all were fans of things that went fast — planes, four-wheelers and automobiles.
Jordyn Biffle, niece of former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, speaks during a memorial service Friday morning at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
And the smiling part?
They were all good at that, too. Photos and videos shown on the scoreboard at the service depicted one family after another — both biological ones and racing ones — grinning widely at the camera, and at each other.
It was Greg Biffle who was the most well-known of the seven, of course, due to his NASCAR championships and, later, his rescue efforts after Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina. It turned out Biffle was quite a prankster, too, as a number of stories revealed from the podium illustrated Friday.
I had known a little of this already, having asked racer Dale Earnhardt Jr. about Biffle earlier in the week. Dale Jr., it turns out, had once gotten a boxer puppy from Biffle (Dale named the dog Killer). Later, they would tie their boats up together on Lake Norman and shoot the breeze. After they stopped competing on different race teams, they found out they actually had a lot in common.
“He was a super dude,” Earnhardt told me, “once you got to know him. And man, did he ever like to mess with people.”
That Biffle did, from a very early age. “The Biff” pranked people and didn’t mind getting pranked himself.
Former NASCAR driver Jeff Burton speaks during a memorial service Friday morning at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte. The ceremony was held to honor the lives lost in the Dec. 18, 2025 plane crash in Statesville that included former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
The speakers at the service Friday told stories about a high school-aged Biffle doing burnouts in front of his school and getting suspended; of climbing on a closed waterslide and sliding down in the middle of the night as an adult and getting caught; of racing with a broken arm that he and his team tried to hide from his car owner; of losing a bet and having to go sleeveless on a ski trip. And, of course, there was all the humanitarian work Biffle did — under all those high jinks, there was an enormous heart.
Photos of the seven people who died in a plane crash in Statesville, North Carolina, on Dec. 18, 2025, are displayed during a memorial service at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte on Friday. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
As NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell told me earlier this week: “If you asked me who a NASCAR driver is that everyone would want to aspire to be, it’s Greg Biffle. And I don’t mean that just from on track, but just a good guy who was involved in so many things, cared about family and made friends immediately. … That’s why it’s such a huge loss. That’s why you’re seeing this outpouring. Greg reflects the kind of guy a lot of people want to be. If we could have more Greg Biffles in the world and in our garage area, it’d be a great thing for the sport.”
Garrett Mitchell wipes tears from his eyes as he speaks about his close friend, the late Greg Biffle, on Friday in Charlotte. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
While this memorial service represented closure in some ways, in other ways this wound remains fresh. In one of those acts that makes you lose some faith in the human race, Biffle’s house was reported to have been burglarized Jan. 8, just three weeks after the plane crash. The incident report said $30,000 in cash and a backpack were stolen, along with guns and memorabilia.
But more than anything else, the mystery of the crash looms.
We still don’t know what caused it. The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, has yet to say who was piloting the plane at the time of the crash (three people on board had pilot licenses).
Any day now, though, the NTSB will release its preliminary findings. That report will give everyone a sense as to why that plane left Statesville on a Thursday morning, then immediately turned around and tried to return to the same airport before striking trees and light stanchions, crashing and bursting into flame only 10 minutes after takeoff.
Jordyn Biffle, niece of former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, exits the stage after speaking Friday at a remembrance ceremony at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
“It’s just such a tragedy,” NASCAR hall of famer Mark Martin told me earlier this week. Martin was a teammate of Biffle on the racetrack and a pilot who has flown Cessnas himself. “And it’s more than Greg. It’s an entire family, and a father and son, and Greg’s friend — such a huge loss. And as a pilot, it’s additionally tough. … Pilots have a pretty good idea of what sort of issues there can be. … And then, of course, my dad and his wife and his daughter died in a plane crash. So it’s a real sore spot for me.”
Yes, Mark Martin lost three family members in a separate plane crash back in 1998. That is one of a series of plane crashes that have taken the lives of people who were central to NASCAR, or family members of someone who was.
That is another story for another time, though.
Friday was about trying to heal and to remember the seven people who died on Dec. 18, 2025. They didn’t deserve what happened. But they were remembered well and fully, on a cold January day in Charlotte.
This story was originally published January 16, 2026 at 3:33 PM.
Columnist Scott Fowler has written for The Charlotte Observer since 1994. He has earned 24 national APSE sportswriting awards and hosted The Observer’s podcast “Carruth,” which Sports Illustrated once named “Podcast of the Year.” Fowler hosts the online series and podcast “Sports Legends of the Carolinas,” which features 1-on-1 interviews with NC and SC sports icons. He also writes occasionally about non-sports subjects, such as the 5-part series “9/11/74,” which chronicled the plane crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 in Charlotte in 1974. Support my work with a digital subscription
Seven weeks before his first NASCAR Cup Series win — a win that would propel the driver to rookie of the year honors and put him on the fast track to becoming one of the sport’s superstars — Greg Biffle was in trouble.
He’d broken his arm doing something rookies shouldn’t do. And no one could know that he’d done it.
“Now, Greg broke his arm by” — air quotes — “climbing in the motor home, which just so happened to be out in the sand dunes, where there are sand rails and 1,000-horse-power cars and four-wheelers,” said Jeff Burton, Biffle’s longtime teammate at Roush Fenway Racing, chuckling as he recalled the story.
“He’d concocted a plan and needed (his PR manager) Patrick (Clay Rogers) to play along with it,” Burton said. “He’s not going to tell anybody about the broken arm. Because when you’re a rookie, you can’t go out and have fun and break your arm and show up at the racetrack. That’s a good way to lose your job.”
Former NASCAR driver Jeff Burton speaks during a Gathering in Remembrance ceremony at Bojangles Coliseum on Friday in Charlotte. The ceremony was held to honor the lives lost in the Dec. 18, 2025 plane crash in Statesville that included former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
That 2003 race was in Fontana, California. Pushing 118 degrees. Biffle, the gregarious type who’d show up early on race days, showed up just in time for practice, Burton remembered — and in a winter coat to cover his bulky cast.
The practice session would go fine. So would qualifying. Biffle spun out once on an early restart during the actual race, then put together a dignified run that yielded 18th place.
“And a bit of humility from me: I finished 19th without a broken arm,” Burton said. “And seven races later, Greg Biffle went on to win his first Cup race at Daytona. That’s Greg. We have a problem, we’re going to deal with it. We’re going to figure it out.”
Greg Biffle, the former NASCAR driver and Hall of Fame nominee whose work during Hurricane Helene saved countless lives across western North Carolina, died in a Statesville plane crash on Dec. 18, 2025. He was 55 years old. Sarah Crabill Getty Images
Burton shared this never-publicly-told story about Biffle on Friday in Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, standing on a stage in front of seven wreaths cloaked in white roses. Those wreaths represented the seven people who died in a plane crash last month at a regional airport in Statesville. The deceased: Greg Biffle; his wife, Cristina; his daughter, Emma; his son, Ryder; his best friend, Craig Wadsworth; a pilot, Dennis Dutton; and Dennis’s son, Jack.
Photos of the seven people who died in a plane crash in Statesville on Dec. 18, 2025, are displayed during a Gathering in Remembrance ceremony Friday at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte. Among the people killed was former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
It was a morning of stories that flowed like milk and honey and motor oil. Phil Parsons, the brother of Benny Parsons, retold the story of how Benny introduced Biffle to Jack Roush and got him into NASCAR. That career, of course, led to 19 wins over 515 starts and a NASCAR Hall of Fame nomination — all of which the 600 mourners in the crowd had been reminded of a lot over the past 29 days.
Burton had wells of details about Biffle’s life on and off the track. Off the track, after all, is where Biffle truly became a North Carolina hero, using his personal helicopter to deliver supplies to hard-to-reach areas of Western North Carolina that were ravaged by the deadly Hurricane Helene.
Two of former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle’s race cars and a truck series truck sit outside Bojangles Coliseum on Friday during a Gathering in Remembrance in Charlotte to honor the lives lost in the Dec. 18, 2025 plane crash in Statesville that included Biffle. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
Jordyn Biffle, Greg’s niece, spoke of Greg but also the rest of the Biffle family including most of all Cristina, someone she considered her best friend.
The memorial concluded with a prayer, immediately preceded by a live, acoustic rendition of Carly Pearce’s “Show Me Around” — sung beautifully by Lindsay Bowman as photos of flashed on the arena’s jumbotron: of a 5-year-old Ryder smiling with a mini-fire-suit on; of Wadsworth holding a large bass he plucked from the ocean; of a high-school Emma taking prom photos with her mother.
Jordyn Biffle, niece of former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle exits the stage after speaking at a Gathering in Remembrance ceremony on Friday at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte. The ceremony, Gathering in Remembrance was held for the seven people who died in a plane crash on Dec. 18, 2025, in Statesville. Among the group was former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
“They lived fully, loved deeply and gave freely,” Jordyn said. “Their lives remind us that what matters isn’t how long we’re here, but how we use the time we’re given, and how fiercely we love while we’re here.”
Jordyn Biffle, niece of former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle speaks during a Gathering in Remembrance ceremony at Bojangles Coliseum on Friday in Charlotte. The ceremony, Gathering in Remembrance was held for the seven people who died in a plane crash on Dec. 18, 2025 in Statesville, NC. Among the group was former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
But Mitchell had stories. Unending amounts of them. They not only made him laugh and recentered his focus through a tough, 23-minute testimony — “Can I have a napkin?” he asked his wife midway through to wipe his face of tears — but they also underscored or highlighted many stories that’s been shared over the month since the tragedy.
Garrett Mitchell wipes tears from his eyes as he speaks during Friday’s Gathering in Remembrance ceremony at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte. The ceremony, Gathering in Remembrance was held for the seven people who died in a plane crash on Dec. 18, 2025, in Statesville. Among the group was former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle. Mitchell was a close friend of Biffle. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
There was the story of the time Biffle — Mitchell and their friend group called him “Mr. The Biff” — invited Mitchell to his home in Lake Norman. Mitchell was flying his helicopter in, and Biffle set ablaze an acre of grass to offer Mitchell a smoke signal of where Biffle’s house was: “That was really nice of him,” Mitchell said. He then laughed: “But it was also the same spot he wanted me to land. I was like, ‘Brother, how can we land while the LZ (landing zone) is on fire?!”
There were other stories Mitchell experienced first-hand: of Biffle losing a bet and having to not wear sleeves for a whole month (he lived up to the bet even on ski slopes); of Biffle, endearingly but unfailingly, forgetting his wife’s drink every time they ventured to a bar together.
Longtime NASCAR executive Mike Helton, center, attends a Gathering in Remembrance ceremony at Bojangles Coliseum on Friday in Charlotte. The ceremony was held to honor the lives lost in the Dec. 18, 2025 plane crash in Statesville that included former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
There were also stories Mitchell shared that he’d heard from earlier in Biffle’s life. That included the story of Biffle somehow maneuvering his yellow Pontiac and performing a burnout inside the gymnasium of Camas High School in his Camas, Washington, hometown for his friends and classmates — an action that caused, understandably, an expulsion as well as his father impounding his car.
The one that might speak most about Biffle was the one Mitchell told about Biffle’s son, Ryder.
“Staying at Biff’s house meant you were going for an evening trail ride with Ryder,” Mitchell said. “He loved leading myself and all of our guys here on his dirt bike trails. And I’m honored to be one of the few people to get in a racing incident with Ryder Biffle.”
By racing, of course, Mitchell meant down a driveway that slalomed through trees.
“Actually, I think I got a little heavy on the breaks into the turn, and Ryder was a little behind on the breaks,” Mitchell continued. “But anyhow, there we were, grinding to a halt on the asphalt. Now, I’m thinking, ‘This kid is going to be crying big-time here.’ But as I looked at him, he was actually smiling, and laughing, and insisted on racing again.
“Luckily it was dark out, so I don’t think his wounds showed as he passed his mom and dad. … Ryder hid it, and we kept on racing.”
Greg Biffle’s North Carolina Auto Racing Walk of Fame marker is turned in a memorial on Dec. 19, 2025, on North Main Street in Mooresville. KHADEJEH NIKOUYEH Knikouyeh@charlotteobserver.com
Ryder didn’t know his father had done the same thing decades earlier, in a heavy winter jacket in Fontana at Cup race — the kind of race that springboarded Biffle into the nation’s consciousness, that opened other avenues for Biffle’s support and aid during Helene, that made him who he was.
Ryder simply shared Greg’s fearlessness, his heart, his mind. And he offered Greg the simplest but most powerful compliment a son could offer a father.
Said Jordyn Biffle: “Ryder had really big dreams of being just like his dad.”
This story was originally published January 16, 2026 at 3:18 PM.
Alex Zietlow writes about the Carolina Panthers and the ways in which sports intersect with life for The Charlotte Observer, where he has been a reporter since August 2022. Zietlow’s work has been honored by the Pro Football Writers Association, the N.C. and S.C. Press Associations, as well as the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) group. He’s earned six APSE Top 10 distinctions for his coverage on a variety of topics, from billion-dollar stadium renovations to the small moments of triumph that helped a Panthers kicker defy the steepest odds in sports. Zietlow previously wrote for The Herald in Rock Hill (S.C.) from 2019-22. Support my work with a digital subscription
Boeing warned plane owners in 2011 about a broken part that contributed to last year’s UPS cargo plane crash that killed 15 people, but at that time, the plane manufacturer didn’t believe it threatened safety, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday.
The UPS plane crashed in November 2025 shortly after taking off in Louisville, Kentucky, when the left engine flew off the wing as the plane rolled down the runway. Three pilots on the plane that was headed for Hawaii were killed along with 12 more people on the ground in a business complex near Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport. The plane, carrying up to 20,000 packages and 38,000 gallons of fuel, was reaching 200 mph when it crashed shortly after takeoff.
The NTSB said Wednesday that Boeing had documented in 2011 that there were four previous failures of a part that helps secure the MD-11’s engines to the wings on three different planes, but at that point, the plane manufacturer “determined it would not result in a safety of flight condition.”
These planes were actually built by McDonnell Douglas, which was later bought by Boeing.
The NTSB previously said investigators found cracks in some of the parts that held the engine to the wing. Those cracks hadn’t been caught in regular maintenance done on the plane, which raised questions about the adequacy of the maintenance schedule. The last time those key engine mount parts were examined closely was in October 2021, and the plane wasn’t due for another detailed inspection for roughly 7,000 more takeoffs and landings.
UPS cargo plane crash had similarities to deadly 1979 crash that killed 273 people
It’s not clear when the cracks started to develop in the parts that helped hold the engine on the wing, but this crash is reminiscent of a 1979 crash in Chicago when the left engine flew off an American Airlines DC-10 during takeoff, killing 273 people. The DC-10 was the predecessor of the MD-11.
That previous crash led to the worldwide grounding of 274 DC-10s. The airline workhorse was allowed to return to the skies because the NTSB determined that maintenance workers damaged the plane that crashed while improperly using a forklift to reattach the engine. That meant the crash wasn’t caused by a fatal design flaw even though there had already been a number of accidents involving DC-10s.
But former FAA and NTSB crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti said that a service bulletin McDonnell Douglas issued in 1980 did identify failures of the spherical bearing race as a “safety of flight condition,” so it’s surprising that Boeing didn’t call it that in 2011. He said that American had removed the engine of that plane so it could inspect that bearing.
“I just think it raises questions regarding the adequacy of the severity of the 2011 service letter, and it also raises questions about how UPS incorporated that information and acted upon it,” Guzzetti said.
In 2011, FAA did not require Boeing to make repairs
The 2011 service bulletin that Boeing issued didn’t require plane owners to make repairs like an FAA airworthiness directive would, and the agency didn’t issue such a directive.
Former federal crash investigator Alan Diehl said the notice from Boeing recommended replacing the bearings with a redesigned part that was less likely to fail, but it still allowed operators to replace defective bearings with another older bearing that had demonstrated it was prone to failing.
“As the investigation continues, the NTSB will have to address whether this service bulletin was an adequate solution to a known problem which could have had catastrophic results,” Diehl said. “The UPS crash highlights the need for increased maintenance measures on older airframes.”
NTSB didn’t say whether there had been additional documented failures of the spherical bearing race since 2011. Investigators found that part broken into two pieces after the UPS crash, and the lugs that held that part were cracked.
Photos released by the NTSB of the Nov. 4 crash show flames erupting as the rear of the engine starts to detach before it flew up and over the wing. Then the wing was engulfed by fire as the burning engine flew above it.
The plane’s black boxes — the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder — were recovered by NTSB investigators.
NTSB investigating why engine fell off plane
The factual report released Wednesday doesn’t state what caused the engine to fly off, but it’s clear that investigators are focused on the failure of this bearing. The ultimate conclusion won’t come though until the NTSB’s final report, which usually doesn’t come until more than a year after a crash.
But the report will undoubtedly be cited in the first lawsuit over the crash, filed last month, and subsequent ones. They will be investigating what Boeing knew at the time and what UPS did in response to this 2011 bulletin.
“I think that this even further demonstrates that there was warning signs that predated the crash that any reasonable organization should have utilized to make sure that the Louisville crash didn’t happen,” said attorney Brad Cosgrove of the Clifford Law firm, which filed the first lawsuit.
The report does make clear that neither of the plane’s two other engines were on fire before the crash. Some experts had previously speculated that debris from the left engine might have damaged the engine on the tail.
Boeing, UPS and the Federal Aviation Administration are limited on what they can say while the NTSB investigation is ongoing, so they all declined to comment on Wednesday’s report. Boeing and UPS both expressed condolences to the families that lost loved ones in the crash.
“We remain profoundly saddened by the Flight 2976 accident,” UPS spokesperson Jim Mayer said. “Our thoughts continue to be with the families and Louisville community who are grieving, and we remain focused on the recovery effort,” Mayer said.
Plane that crashed was more than 30 years old
This photo provided by the National Transportation Safety Board shows the UPS plane crash scene on Nov. 6, 2025, in Louisville, Kentucky.
NTSB via AP
The 34-year-old MD-11 plane only got 30 feet off the ground before crashing into several industrial buildings just past the runway and generating a massive fireball that could be seen for miles.
Dramatic videos of the crash showed the plane on fire as it plowed into buildings and released a massive plume of smoke.
At the time of the crash, witnesses told CBS News they heard multiple explosions.
“It was explosion after explosion after explosion, so you just didn’t know when it was going to stop,” Georgie Dow, chief financial officer of Grade A Auto Parts just south of the airport, told CBS News at the time. “It’s chaos, you don’t know what’s going to happen next. What’s the next thing? What’s going to blow up? It’s scary.”
Airlines quit flying this type of plane commercially years ago because it isn’t as efficient as newer models, but they had continued to fly for cargo carriers like UPS and FedEx and a few of these planes were also modified for use in firefighting. All the MD-11s that had been in use and 10 related DC-10s have been grounded since the crash.
Cosgrove said he thinks it will eventually become clear that these MD-11s “probably should have been retired and that they had exceeded their shelf life.”
On July 4, 1977, while most of Michigan was lighting grills and sparklers, a small plane quietly disappeared — and nearly 50 years later, it still hasn’t been found.
John and Jean Block took off that day in their green-and-white Cessna 150J, departing the Detroit area for a short recreational flight north. Their destination was Lost Creek Sky Ranch, a once-popular fly-in resort between Luzerne and Mio that attracted pilots looking for an easy weekend getaway.
No mayday call. No confirmed crash site. No debris. No answers.
A Flight That Shouldn’t Have Vanished
A Cessna 150J isn’t a mystery aircraft. It’s small, slow, loud, and very much not designed to disappear. Flights like this happen every day in Michigan, especially in summer. The route would have taken the Blocks over farmland, forests, rivers, and long stretches of sparsely populated land — but nothing especially dangerous by aviation standards.
That’s what makes this case so unsettling.
The last known radio communication was routine. John Block reportedly radioed ahead asking for a car to be ready at the ranch. That transmission was received.
Then the radio went silent.
Searches began almost immediately. Air patrols flew grid patterns. Ground teams pushed through woods. Rivers and swamps were checked. Hunters, hikers, pilots, and locals were all asked to keep their eyes open.
Lost in the Trees
Over the years, investigators have narrowed the likely crash area to central and northern Michigan — possibly near Mount Pleasant, or deeper into the vast forests of the Huron-Manistee National Forest or Atlanta State Forest.
And if you’ve ever been in those woods, you understand how something can vanish.
Michigan forests aren’t neat. They’re layered. Thick canopy. Swamps hidden under brush. Trees that fall and disappear into themselves. A small plane could go down, break apart, and be swallowed whole in a matter of seasons — especially in areas that don’t see much foot traffic.
Add snow. Add rain. Add time.
After a few decades, aluminum doesn’t exactly announce itself.
The Psychic Twist
The case recently resurfaced thanks to an old newspaper clipping that began circulating again online — one that included a psychic’s claim about where the plane went down. That article was originally published just weeks after the disappearance and suggested the crash occurred near Mount Pleasant.
Whether you believe in psychics or not, the resurfacing of that clipping did something important: it reminded people that this mystery still exists.
Families are still looking. People still care. And the plane is still out there.
Why This Case Still Bugs People
Most missing-plane stories eventually resolve themselves. Someone stumbles across wreckage. A fisherman finds debris. A hiker notices something unnatural in the woods.
That hasn’t happened here.
Which raises uncomfortable questions:
Did the plane go down in an area no one visits?
Could it be submerged in a river, bog, or swamp?
Did weather suddenly disorient the pilot?
Or did the aircraft drift farther off course than anyone realized?
There’s no evidence of foul play. No sign the Blocks intended anything other than a normal holiday flight. Which makes the lack of answers even harder to accept.
This wasn’t a risky mission. This wasn’t extreme weather aviation. This was a summer trip.
And those aren’t supposed to end like this.
The YouTube Factor
Yes — there are YouTube videos about this case.
Several aviation enthusiasts, Michigan mystery channels, and amateur search groups have posted videos breaking down the flight path, mapping possible crash zones, and even documenting physical search attempts in the woods. Some videos walk through Google Earth overlays. Others show boots-on-the-ground searches in forested areas believed to be along the Blocks’ route.
None have produced confirmed evidence.
But collectively, they’ve kept the case alive — and introduced it to a new generation that understands just how strange it is for a plane to vanish in a state as heavily traveled as Michigan.
Why People Are Looking Again
Technology has changed since 1977. Satellite imagery is sharper. Mapping tools are public. Drones exist. Social media allows thousands of eyes to focus on the same problem.
And every spring, when snow melts and the forest floor opens up just a little, the question comes back:
Could this be the year someone finally finds it?
Because all it takes is one hunter. One hiker. One person noticing metal where metal doesn’t belong.
A Mystery Still Waiting
Nearly half a century later, John and Jean Block’s flight remains one of Michigan’s most haunting unsolved stories. Somewhere — under trees, beneath water, or hidden in plain sight — the answer is waiting.
Until then, it remains a uniquely Michigan mystery: quiet, wooded, unresolved… and still very much unfinished.
It has been about 12 years since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared over the Indian Ocean with 239 people on board. As of Tuesday, the search for the plane is back on. Aviation journalist and host of the “Finding MH370” podcast, Jeff Wise, joins to discuss how crews are approaching the operation this time around.
More than seven weeks after a man was severely injured in the fiery crash of a UPS cargo plane in Louisville, Kentucky, he has died, officials announced Thursday, raising the death toll from the incident to 15 people.
The victim was identified by Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg as Alain Rodriguez Colina.
Colina “suffered severe injuries at the time of the crash and passed earlier this Christmas Day,” Greenberg wrote in a social media post to X Thursday afternoon.
On Nov. 4, UPS Flight 2976 bound for Hawaii crashed moments after takeoff from Louisville International Airport, where UPS has its global aviation hub.
The plane barely lifted off when it came down in a commercial area near the airport, crashing into several businesses. The three pilots aboard the plane were killed, along with 12 people on the ground, including Colina. Another nearly two dozen people were hurt.
The plane was carrying up to 20,000 packages and 38,000 gallons of fuel.
In its preliminary report, the National Transportation Safety Board said that the plane reached an altitude of just 30 feet, clearing a runway fence, before coming down. Photos and video also showed the left engine of the McDonnell Douglas MD-11F separating from the wing and falling off during takeoff. The NTSB said there was evidence of cracks in the left wing’s engine mount.
The debris field from the crash stretched a half-mile, Todd Inman, a member of the NTSB, told reporters the day after the crash.
This photo provided by the National Transportation Safety Board shows the UPS plane crash scene on Nov. 6, 2025 in Louisville, Kentucky.
NTSB via AP
Inman also said that the cockpit voice recorder — one of the plane’s two black boxes that was recovered from the plane — recorded a persistent bell that sounded in the cockpit for about 25 seconds as the plane went down.
It could take the NTSB, the lead investigative agency in the crash, up to two years to release its final report.
Federal investigators are looking into what caused a deadly plane crash in Galveston Bay, off the Texas coast. A medical plane transporting a child burn victim from Mexico went down with eight people on board. Five were killed, including the 2-year-old. Karen Hua has more on the rescue mission.
A small Mexican navy plane on a medical mission crashed Monday near Galveston, Texas, killing at least five people, including a 2-year-old, officials said.
Two people were taken to the hospital, the U.S. Coast Guard said earlier. There was no immediate word on their condition. One passenger, a 27-year-old, was uninjured, the Coast Guard said. It was unclear if that person was one of the two who had been taken to the hospital. One person was still missing as of Monday night, the Mexican navy said.
The Mexican navy said the plane had been carrying eight people: four navy officers and four civilians. The U.S. Coast Guard later told CBS News the plane was capable of carrying eight people, but that it wasn’t actually clear how many were on board.
Two of the passengers were from the nonrofit Michou and Mau Foundation, which provides aid to Mexican children with severe burns.
The crash took place Monday around 3:17 p.m. local time near the base of a causeway near Galveston, along the Texas coast about 50 miles southeast of Houston.
Mexico’s navy said in a statement that the plane was helping with a medical mission and had an accident. It promised to investigate the cause of the crash.
The navy is helping local authorities with the search and rescue operation, it said in a post on X.
Emergency personnel rush a victim of a small plane crash to an awaiting ambulance near Galveston, Texas, on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025.
Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP
Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration were expected to arrive at the scene of the crash, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on X. DPS Sgt. Steven Woodard told CBS News that life-saving measures were performed at the scene.
The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office said officials from its dive team, crime scene unit, drone unit and patrol were responding to the crash.
“The incident remains under investigation, and additional information will be released as it becomes available,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post, adding that the public should avoid the area so emergency responders can work safely.
It’s not immediately clear if weather was a factor. However, the area has been experiencing foggy conditions over the past few days, according to Cameron Batiste, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
He said that at about 2:30 p.m. Monday, a fog came in that had about a half-mile visibility. The foggy conditions are expected to persist through Tuesday morning.
A plane crashed early Thursday at Statesville Regional Airport, killing seven people, including NASCAR star Greg Biffle, his wife and two children, and three other people. Biffle, who flew aircraft in WNC to help victims of Hurricane Helene, owned the Cessna that crashed mid-morning north of Charlotte.
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STATESVILLE
A passenger aboard NASCAR driver Greg Biffle’s plane texted a family member moments before the Cessna 550 jet crashed at Statesville Regional Airport Thursday, National Transportation Safety Board member Michael Graham said Saturday.
“Emergency landing,” read the text, Graham said at a news conference.
He declined to say who sent the text, and to whom, saying the NTSB needed to respect the family’s privacy during the ongoing crash investigation.
“We are not aware of any other communications from passengers to those on the ground,” Graham said.
“We do not know the circumstances which led the aircraft … to attempt to return to the airport,” Graham said. “That is the focus of our investigation.”
An NTSB investigator documents one of the engines from the Cessna Citation C550 that crashed in Statesville on Dec. 18, 2025. National Transportation Safety Board
‘Stable on approach’
On Friday, NTSB officials held a news conference providing preliminary information on the crash. Between 10:05 a.m. and 10:15 a.m., the plane left the airport about 45 miles north of Charlotte, returned for an unknown reason and crashed before the runway entrance, Graham said.
The 44-year-old Cessna 550 jet was in the air for about five minutes before it started to return, Investigator-In-Charge Dan Baker said. The jet left Statesville at about 10:05 a.m. It made a left turn toward the west followed by a left turn to the east, which led the aircraft back to the airport.
NTSB investigators “are confident” they know who was piloting the plane “but still need to verify” that through further investigation, Graham said Saturday. The pilot will be named in the preliminary NTSB report on the crash within a month, he said.
“Early indications from multiple sources indicate that the airplane was stable on approach, configured for landing, with the landing lights on, but the aircraft was coming in low,” Graham said.
“That information is consistent with the debris field our team continues to survey, and consistent with the first points of impact on the airport runway lighting stanchion located approximately 1,800 feet from the runway threshold,” he said.
The airplane later hit trees, two other lights and the airport perimeter fence short of the runway before coming to a stop on the runway, Baker said.
Partial view of the debris field from the Cessna Citation C550 crash in Statesville on Dec. 18, 2025. National Transportation Safety Board
In response to a question by The Charlotte Observer, Graham said the plane “was lower than a normal glide slope for the airport. And the fact that it contacted the approach lighting stanchion tells you that it was basically level or below the runway level at that point, because the runway is up on a hill a little bit.”
The Cessna 550 jet was destroyed in the crash and subsequent fire, the FAA said.
Witnesses noted on social media the plane cut a path through a wooded area near the airport, and left a smoking trail carved in the grass before it came to a stop. Graham added that when the plane was returning to the airport, witnesses noted that it returned at a low height.
On Friday, an NTSB team “documented the accident debris field, aircraft wreckage positioning, component locations and the flight controls,” Graham said Saturday.
Analysts at NTSB headquarters in Washington, D.C., are examining the cockpit voice recorder recovered Friday, he said.
NTSB teams “also recovered additional avionics equipment, one being the ground proximity warning system, a Garmin G750 display … and various cockpit instruments,” Graham said.
The team secured the caution and warning panel from the instrument panel, he said.
The NTSB has the maintenance logs of the plane, and will try to determine its weight and balance “and verify the loading,” Graham said.
Another team continues to examine the engines of the plane, he said.
The NTSB completed documenting the scene Saturday morning and will release the scene to local authorities Sunday or Monday, Graham said.
NTSB investigators will continue gathering evidence at the site as long as it takes, he said.
A final report on the crash is expected in a year to a year and a half, he said.
He urged anyone who saw or has video of the crash to email the NTSB at witness@ntsb.gov.
NTSB will hold a media briefing on the Cessna Citation crash in Statesville, N.C. at 11 a.m. today in the Statesville Room at the Hilton Garden Inn. (1017 Gateway Crossing Drive).
Joe Marusak has been a reporter for The Charlotte Observer since 1989 covering the people, municipalities and major news events of the region, and was a news bureau editor for the paper. He currently reports on breaking news. Support my work with a digital subscription
Biffle died in a plane crash at Statesville Regional Airport Thursday along with his wife, their two children and three others.
“I also want to express my condolences to the people of this state and the loved ones of NASCAR legend Greg Biffle, who perished yesterday, had a tragic plane crash with his family in Statesville,” Trump said at a rally.
A fan visits Greg Biffle’s marker at the North Carolina Auto Racing Walk of Fame on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. KHADEJEH NIKOUYEH
‘Pay our condolences, our love’
The president told the crowd he twice met Biffle, who lived on Lake Norman in Mooresville with his family.
“He was a great young man, and what a tragedy that is with his whole family,” Trump said. “So I just want to pay our condolences, our love. North Carolina will never forget them.”
On Friday, National Transportation Safety Board officials held a news conference providing preliminary information on the crash. Between 10:05 a.m. and 10:15 a.m., the plane left the airport about 45 miles north of Charlotte, returned for an unknown reason and crashed before the runway entrance, NTSB member Michael Graham said.
Greg Biffle, center, is regarded as one of NASCAR’s top 75 drivers of all time. He and his family died on Dec. 18 after his plane crashed at Statesville Regional Airport, which is about 45 miles north of Charlotte. Courtesy of Lake Norman Humane
The 44-year-old Cessna 550 jet was in the air for about five minutes before it started to return, Investigator-In-Charge Dan Baker said. The jet left Statesville at about 10:05 a.m. It made a left turn toward the west followed by a left turn to the east, which led the aircraft back to the airport.
The airplane made initial impact with a runaway light about 1,800 feet from the runway, Baker said. It later hit trees, two other lights and the airport perimeter fence short of the runway before coming to a stop on the runway, Baker said.
The Cessna 550 jet was destroyed in the crash and subsequent fire, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Witnesses noted on social media the plane cut a path through a wooded area near the airport, and left a smoking trail carved in the grass before it came to a stop. Graham added that when the plane was returning to the airport, witnesses noted that it returned at a low height.
.@POTUS in North Carolina: “I also want to express my condolences to the people of this state, and to the loved ones of NASCAR legend Greg Biffle, who perished yesterday in a tragic plane crash with his family… North Carolina will never forget them.” https://t.co/ItQN6bsrhEpic.twitter.com/ZomnOvGr4s
Joe Marusak has been a reporter for The Charlotte Observer since 1989 covering the people, municipalities and major news events of the region, and was a news bureau editor for the paper. He currently reports on breaking news. Support my work with a digital subscription
One day after retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his family died in a private plane crash in North Carolina, his mother-in-law said the family doesn’t know how they’re going to fill the “huge hole” left behind.
Biffle, his wife, Christina Grossu Biffle, their son Ryder and Biffle’s daughter Emma were among the seven people killed when a Cessna C550 crashed while landing at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina on Thursday morning. The other three people aboard the flight were identified as Craig Wadsworth and Dennis and Jack Dutton.
Cathy Grossu said she and her daughter were texting “all day long,” including during the flight.
“Then she said something like ‘We’re in trouble, emergency landing.’ And I texted back, ‘What’s wrong with the plane?’” Grossu told CBS News. “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.”
Greg and Christina Biffle with Ryder, Emma and Cathy Grossu.
Cathy Grossu
Grossu called the airport. She said she was told there was a fire.
“That’s when we knew that they crashed,” Grossu said.
A flight path available on the tracking website FlightAware appears to show that the plane departed, then looped back toward the airport. North Carolina State Highway Patrol confirmed that the plane had departed and was returning to the airport on reapproach, but did not say why.
The cause of the crash has not been determined. The National Transportation Safety Board said Friday it was able to recover a cockpit voice recorder that’s on its way to Washington, D.C., to be examined. Officials said they weren’t aware of any mayday call being made, and that they don’t know who was piloting at the time. The NTSB said three people on the plane had licenses.
Grossu said she had last seen the family on the day before the crash, but didn’t remember what her final words to them had been.
“It’s a cliche, people say to say ‘I love you’ to your loved ones all the time, and to embrace them and everything else. And that’s the other regret I have, is I know when we said goodbye on Wednesday, we hugged. I don’t know what my last words were,” Grossu said, through tears. “Maybe it was ‘I love you.’ I don’t know. I don’t remember.”
Grossu remembered the family as “good people” who “lived life to the fullest.”
“It was way too soon for all of them to lose their lives, but they didn’t hold back and they were always giving,” Grossu said.
Grossu said 14-year-old Emma, whom Biffle shared with her mother Nicole Lunders, was a “good girl.” Ryder, 5, was a “bundle of energy” who called his grandparents Mimi and Baba. He was at Grossu’s house all the time, she said. He dreamed of being an F1 driver.
Cathy Grossu and her grandson Ryder Biffle.
Cathy Grossu
“All of his presents under the tree were in that regard. And he asked me on Wednesday, he said, ‘Mimi, can I open up one of my presents?’ And I said ‘No, you gotta wait till Christmas,’” Grossu said. “And I regret that, saying that, every hour since this happened, why I didn’t let him open one present. I didn’t, and I feel so badly about that.”
Tributes from the racing community and beyond have been pouring in since the family’s deaths were confirmed. NASCAR remembered Biffle as “more than a champion driver” and a “friend to so many.” North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson wrote on X that Biffle was a “great NASCAR champion” and “extraordinary person as well.” A family statement called Biffle and his wife devoted parents who built their lives around their children. The statement also said Dennis Dutton and his son Jack were “deeply loved,” and that Craig Wadsworth was “beloved by many” in the NASCAR community.
“It’s hard. We’re devastated,” Grossu said.
“We’re just taking it one minute at a time,” Grossu continued. “I can’t talk about it without bawling. I try not to, but it’s impossible.”
A business jet crashed Thursday at a regional airport in North Carolina used by NASCAR teams and Fortune 500 companies, erupting in a large fire and killing multiple people, authorities said.
“I can confirm there were fatalities,” Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell said, though he declined to say how many.
Garrett Mitchell, known online as YouTube star “Cleetus McFarland,” confirmed on Facebook that former NASCAR driver and philanthropist Greg Biffle, his wife and two children were among those killed in a plane crash in Iredell County.
Mitchell said on Facebook that the family was on the way to spend the afternoon with him.
Public FAA registration records confirm that the plane belonged to a company owned by GB Aviation Leasing, a company owned by Biffle.
The Cessna C550 crashed while landing at Statesville Regional Airport, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Charlotte, the Federal Aviation Administration said. They added that six people were aboard the plane.
Golfers playing next to the airport were shocked as they witnessed the disaster, even dropping to the ground at the Lakewood Golf Club while the plane was overhead. The ninth hole was covered with debris.
“We were like, ‘Oh my gosh! That’s way too low,’” said Joshua Green of Mooresville. “It was scary.”
The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA were investigating. AccuWeather says there was some drizzle and clouds at the time of the crash.
The plane took off from the airport shortly after 10 a.m. but then returned and was attempting to land there, according to tracking data posted by FlightAware.com.
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 airport’s website states that it offers corporate aviation facilities for Fortune 500 companies and several NASCAR teams.
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This story corrects the sheriff’s first name to Darren, not Grant.
Deaths have been reported after a business jet crashed while attempting to land at a regional airport in North Carolina, according to a local sheriff.“I can confirm there were fatalities,” Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell said. Campbell did not elaborate on how many people were killed.Video above: Crash scene at Statesville Regional Airport in North CarolinaThe jet crashed while attempting to make a landing at Statesville Regional Airport around 10:15 a.m. Thursday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The Hearst Television National Investigative Unit found that FAA records show the plane that crashed was a Cessna 550 Citation, a smaller jet often used by businesses. This Citation was built in 1981 and last certified for flight in March of this year.Flight plans show the plane was bound for Sarasota, Florida, and had three additional flights planned for Thursday. From Sarasota, the plane had planned to fly to Treasure Cay International Airport in the Bahamas before returning to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and then to Statesville by evening.Flight tracking data reviewed by the National Investigative Unit shows the jet departed Statesville Regional at approximately 10:06 am. The jet reached its highest altitude — approximately 2,000 feet — less than two minutes after departure and about a mile from the airport, and then it began to descend.It continued descending and at approximately 11 miles from the airport, the plane turned back and made an attempt to fly directly back to the airport. The final recorded data point, about nine minutes after takeoff, shows the plane less than a half-mile from the airport near the Lakewood Golf Club about 800 feet of altitude and approximately 109 mph. On its website, the airport says it provides corporate aviation facilities for Fortune 500 companies and several NASCAR teams. The airport, about 45 miles north of Charlotte, is currently closed. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
STATESVILLE, N.C. —
Deaths have been reported after a business jet crashed while attempting to land at a regional airport in North Carolina, according to a local sheriff.
“I can confirm there were fatalities,” Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell said. Campbell did not elaborate on how many people were killed.
Video above: Crash scene at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina
The jet crashed while attempting to make a landing at Statesville Regional Airport around 10:15 a.m. Thursday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Hearst Television National Investigative Unit found that FAA records show the plane that crashed was a Cessna 550 Citation, a smaller jet often used by businesses. This Citation was built in 1981 and last certified for flight in March of this year.
Flight plans show the plane was bound for Sarasota, Florida, and had three additional flights planned for Thursday. From Sarasota, the plane had planned to fly to Treasure Cay International Airport in the Bahamas before returning to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and then to Statesville by evening.
Flight tracking data reviewed by the National Investigative Unit shows the jet departed Statesville Regional at approximately 10:06 am. The jet reached its highest altitude — approximately 2,000 feet — less than two minutes after departure and about a mile from the airport, and then it began to descend.
It continued descending and at approximately 11 miles from the airport, the plane turned back and made an attempt to fly directly back to the airport. The final recorded data point, about nine minutes after takeoff, shows the plane less than a half-mile from the airport near the Lakewood Golf Club about 800 feet of altitude and approximately 109 mph.
On its website, the airport says it provides corporate aviation facilities for Fortune 500 companies and several NASCAR teams. The airport, about 45 miles north of Charlotte, is currently closed.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
The US government now admits failures by the pilots of an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a controller in the Reagan National Airport tower during the January 29 midair collision.
(CNN) — The US government now admits failures by the pilots of an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a controller in the Reagan National Airport tower during the January 29 midair collision over the Potomac River that killed 67 people.
The new admission is part of court documents filed by the Department of Justice in United States District Court in Washington, DC, on Wednesday in a civil lawsuit brought earlier this year by the family of a passenger killed on American Eagle flight 5342.
“The United States admits that it owed a duty of care to Plaintiffs, which it breached,” the new filing says, setting up the ability for the families to seek damages.
The concession in the 209-page court filing is an unexpected admission from the military as the National Transportation Safety Board continues its independent investigation of the crash.
A total of 67 people were killed in the midair collision after the Army crew told controllers in the airport control tower that they would maintain “visual separation” from flight 5342 which was about to land at National Airport.
“The United States admits pilots flying PAT25 failed to maintain proper and safe visual separation from AE5342,” the court filing says.
The US government also admits in the suit that an air traffic controller in the tower “did not comply” with an FAA order governing air traffic control procedure.
“The United States is admitting the Army and FAA’s responsibility for the needless loss in the crash of an Army helicopter and American Airlines Flight 5342 at Reagan National Airport. However, the government rightfully acknowledges that it is not the only entity responsible for this deadly crash,” plaintiff attorney Robert Clifford said in a statement in response to the filing.
There’s still a fair amount of finger-pointing and legal distinctions the Justice Department is making in court, despite its admissions on Wednesday.
In the lengthy response to the lawsuit, federal government lawyers admit the Black Hawk crew’s choices in flight were a “cause-in-fact and a proximate cause of the accident and the death.”
They also argue that the federal air traffic controllers around the DC-area airport can’t be held liable because they weren’t the cause of the crash.
The commercial airlines are still fighting the lawsuit, asking for it to be dismissed by the court, and have not made the same admissions the federal government did on Wednesday.
During public hearings this summer, the NTSB focused on cultural issues in the Army’s 12th Aviation Battalion, possible errors in the altimeters on board the helicopter, and whether the layout of helicopter routes near the airport created an accident waiting to happen.
A final report and probable cause from the NTSB is not expected until next month at the earliest.
Lawyers representing victims’ families say the crash was caused by “collective failures” by the US government that “caused the mid-air collision that resulted in the senseless and tragic deaths of 67 individuals” and that government personnel – including controllers in the air traffic control tower – “should have known, that the airport approaches, and the airspace in the vicinity of Washington D.C.’s Reagan National Airport (‘DCA’), presented certain safety risks, specifically including the possibility of a mid-air collision.”
They also maintain that the crew of the helicopter on a low-altitude training mission were using night-vision goggles which “unreasonably distracted them” and “limited their field of vision.”
The federal government, in its filing, admitted “the airspace near DCA is busy at times and the risk of midair collision cannot be reduced to zero.”
In a statement, a US Army spokesperson said, “The Army understands and respects the need for families to receive more information regarding the tragic DCA crash. We acknowledge that many individuals are still seeking answers about the incident and the measures being taken to prevent a similar tragedy.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment beyond the court filing.
CNN has also reached out to the Federal Aviation Administration and American Airlines for comment.
This story has been updated with additional details.
Federal investigators released dramatic photos Thursday of an engine flying off a doomed UPS cargo plane that crashed two weeks ago, killing 14 people in Kentucky, and said there was evidence of cracks in the left wing’s engine mount.
The MD-11 plane only got 30 feet off the ground, the National Transportation Safety Board said, citing the flight data recorder in its first formal but preliminary report about the Nov. 4 disaster in Louisville, Kentucky.
Three pilots on the plane were killed along with 11 more people on the ground near Muhammad Ali International Airport.
The NTSB said the plane was not due yet for a detailed inspection of key engine mount parts that had fractures. It still needed to complete nearly 7,000 more takeoffs and landings. It was last examined in October 2021.
“It appears UPS was conducting this maintenance within the required time frame, but I’m sure the FAA is now going to ponder whether that time frame is adequate,” aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti told The Associated Press after reading the report.
A series of photos released by the NTSB show the left engine coming off the UPS plane and flying up and over the wing. The final image shows the plane slightly airborne with its left wing ablaze.
This combination photo provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) via UPS shows a sequence of framegrabs made from video where an engine is seen detaching from the plane’s left wing upon takeoff at the Louisville International Airport in Louisville, Nov. 4, 2025.
AP
Earlier this week, Bill Moore, president of UPS Airlines, an arm of UPS, said the company is working with investigators to determine the “root cause” of the crash.
“Once we determine that, then they’ll be able to develop an inspection plan,” Moore said at a news conference in Louisville. “Can we inspect it? If so, how do we repair it? How do we put it back together? And then eventually return the fleet to service. But that’s not going to happen quickly.”
The NTSB previously recovered evidence including the plane’s black boxes. UPS said it has grounded its fleet of MD-11s and is using other aircraft during the busy holiday season.
Last week, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg identified all the victims on social media.
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