The family of two people killed in the plane crash that also took the lives of Greg Biffle and his family have filed wrongful death lawsuits against Biffle’s estate.
Biffle, his wife Cristina, their children Emma and Ryder, Dennis Dutton, Jack Dutton and Craig Wadsworth died on Dec. 18 when Biffle’s Cessna C550 crashed as it attempted to land back at Statesville (North Carolina) Regional Airport shortly after it departed the facility.
The Dutton family says that Biffle was responsible for the maintenance of the plane and that the maintenance was inadequate before the crash and is seeking a combined $30 million in damages from the two lawsuits. The plane was officially owned by Biffle’s company, GB Aviation Leasing LLC.
According to the NTSB’s preliminary investigation, the left engine initially did not start and when the plane was taxiing for takeoff, the Duttons and Biffle “discussed that a thrust reverser indicator light(s) for an unspecified engine was inoperative, but that the thrust reverser for the affected engine was working properly.”
The report stated that Dennis Dutton was the pilot of the plane and Jack was in the co-pilot seat with Biffle seated behind them. Dennis Dutton was not certified to fly the plane without a capable No. 2 pilot and neither Jack Dutton nor Biffle were certified to serve as a co-pilot on the aircraft.
The NTSB noted in its preliminary report that Jack Dutton shared control duties with his father while the plane was in the air. Less than 10 minutes after the plane took off, Jack Dutton said that they were “having some issues here” while Biffle referred to something power-related with the plane’s alternator, though the C550 does not have an alternator.
Who broke into the Biffles’ home in January?
Less than a month after the plane crash, a break-in was reported at the Biffles’ home in Lake Norman, North Carolina. And an Iredell County Sheriff’s Office detective wrote in a March report that he believes the break-in to be part of a larger scheme to take the family’s money.
Per a search warrant application, the incident “was a coverup to steal evidence of a more elaborate plan against the Biffle family and their wealth, not only of money but property as well.”
No arrests have been made in the case, but according to the Charlotte Observer, police have noticed similarities between a friend of Biffle’s wife who was at the family’s celebration of life and the person captured on video cameras at the family’s property and also matched the license plate of a pickup truck to the vicinity of their house on the date of the break-in.
There’s also allegedly been suspicious activity on Biffle family banking and financial accounts. From the Observer:
“Email address to accounts were changed, as well as phone numbers and passwords” and “fraudulent activity started on Cristina Grossu’s Venmo account, according to the warrant.
On Dec. 29, someone changed account information over the phone on Greg Biffle’s accounts at United Carolina Bank, the officer wrote. The next day, a fraudulent check was cashed at a UCB branch in Columbia S.C. from a Greg Biffle account, the warrant states.
“Another three checks were attempted from the same account at different UCB branches in South Carolina,” according to the warrant, which doesn’t say if the attempts succeeded.
Biffle, 55, competed for 16 seasons in NASCAR’s Cup Series. He won 19 races at NASCAR’s top level and is one of just two drivers to win titles in both the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and third-tier Craftsman Truck Series.