Garrett Mitchell aka Cleetus McFarland, one of Greg Biffle’s close friends, confirmed that Biffle, his wife, and his two children, Ryder and Emma, were on the plane that crashed at Statesville Airport earlier today.
Mitchell shared on Facebook, “Unfortunately, I can confirm Greg Biffle, his wife Cristina, daughter Emma, and son Ryder were on that plane… because they were on their way to spend the afternoon with us. We are devastated. I’m so sorry to share this.”
Mitchell’s confirmation comes after Iredell County Sheriff Grant Campbell confirmed there were fatalities from the crash. He said, “I can confirm there were fatalities.” However, he did not provide any other details.
The C550 jet, which was registered to Biffle through GB Aviation Leasing, crashed at the end of the runway while attempting to land at Statesville Regional Airport just 45 miles north of Charlotte, North Carolina. The plane crashed at around 10:20 a.m. this morning shortly after it had taken off from the airport.
Weather Impact Chief Meteorologist Brad Panovich shared an animation of the plane’s flight. The plane can be seen taking off and then appears to immediately circle back in an attempt to land back at the airport before it crashed.
Update..This was the flight path of the Cessna 550 Citation that took off from Statesville airport and immediately turned around and tried to land. It did crash on that landing attempt back at the airport. More–>https://t.co/kAMeQu1QQM pic.twitter.com/rBeME1bX8o
— Brad Panovich (@wxbrad) December 18, 2025
Panovich also shared that the plane “reported engine trouble shortly after take-off and was trying to land back at the airport.
We can confirm the owner of the aircraft leasing company, but we do not know who was on the plane. It reported engine trouble shortly after take-off and was trying to land back at the airport. It crashed and burst into flames. Yes, I am aware of lots of other information from… pic.twitter.com/cRYutwMaZu
— Brad Panovich (@wxbrad) December 18, 2025
A news conference regarding the incident is expected to be held by the National Transportation Safety Board on Friday.
NTSB is launching a go team to investigate the fatal crash of a Cessna Citation C550 jet in Statesville, North Carolina. The team expects to arrive on scene tonight and Member Michael Graham will be spokesperson on scene. NTSB will hold a media briefing tomorrow, time and…
— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) December 18, 2025
Pray for Greg Biffle and his family and anyone else who might have been onboard the plane.
0 Comments