who was flying biffle plane

Investigators and news outlets have not yet confirmed who was flying Greg Biffle’s plane when it crashed, so the question of “who was flying” remains officially unanswered as of the latest reports.

What is known so far

• The crash involved a Cessna 550 Citation business jet near Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina and killed all seven people on board, including retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and members of his family.

• The jet was owned/operated by a Biffle-linked company (often reported as GB Aviation or GB Aviation Leasing) and had departed Statesville before turning back toward the airport shortly before the crash.

Who on board were pilots?

Reports agree that there were multiple licensed pilots on the aircraft:

• Greg Biffle – Held an FAA private pilot license and had recently obtained certification to fly multi‑engine aircraft in early 2025.

• Dennis Dutton – A highly experienced airline transport pilot, reportedly retired from Delta, specifically rated on the Cessna 550 type involved in the crash, but with a certificate limitation requiring a second-in-command (SIC) when flying it.

• Jack Dutton – Dennis’s son, who held a private pilot license for single‑engine aircraft, not rated to captain the Cessna 550.

Because of those ratings and restrictions, aviation analysts and reporters generally consider Dennis Dutton the most likely person to have been acting as the primary pilot, with another qualified pilot acting as second‑in‑command; however, that is an informed assumption, not an official finding.

Why no one can say “for sure” yet

• The NTSB has publicly stated that they do not yet know who was at the controls at the moment of the crash.

• The cockpit voice recorder and other evidence still need to be fully analyzed to determine crew roles, communications, and actions in the final minutes.

• Insurance, legal, and investigative reports will likely hinge on that answer, which is why commentators keep emphasizing that “who was flying this airplane?” is a central unresolved question.

Bottom line

For now, all that can be said confidently is:

• At least two fully certified multi‑engine pilots were on board: Greg Biffle and airline transport pilot Dennis Dutton.

• Official agencies have not announced which of them (or in what captain/SIC configuration) was actually flying the plane when it went down.

Until the NTSB releases its final or a more detailed interim report, any claim that definitively names one person as “the pilot” at the time of impact is speculative.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.