1 month ago
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By GARY D. ROBERTSON and JOSH FUNK, Associated Press
STATESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Federal investigators are trying to figure out why a business jet carrying retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and six others tried to return to a North Carolina airport just after takeoff but plowed into light poles and a tree line short of the runway, killing everyone on board.
The Cessna C550 erupted into a large fire when it hit the ground Thursday morning, about a third of a mile from the airport’s runway. They also don’t know who the was the lead pilot. Biffle was one of three people on board with a pilot’s license.
The jet had departed Statesville Regional Airport, about 45 miles north of Charlotte, 10 minutes earlier, but crashed while trying to return and land, authorities said.
Flight records indicate the plane was registered to a company run by Biffle. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board began examining the wreckage on Friday to help determine the cause of the crash and why the plane had returned to the airport in drizzle and cloudy conditions.
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