The estate of late NASCAR star Greg Biffle is facing a combined $30 million in wrongful death lawsuits filed by the families of two of the seven people killed when his private aircraft went down outside Statesville, North Carolina, last December.
Court records show the estates of Dennis Dutton, the captain on board, and his adult son Jack Dutton each filed separate $15 million claims at the end of April. Both suits, lodged in Iredell County, allege that Biffle, as registered owner of the Cessna 550, was responsible for the aircraft's maintenance and that a lack of upkeep contributed to the crash on December 18, 2025.
All seven occupants died in the accident. Biffle, 55, was at the controls alongside Dutton, the experienced captain regularly hired to fly the twin-engined business jet. Biffle's daughter Emma was also among the victims, along with three others whose identities have not been formally released by investigators. The plane had departed for what relatives described as a short hop when it lost altitude on approach and struck terrain near the airfield.
The National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary work continues, with a final report not yet published. The wrongful death filings, however, do not wait on that report. Instead, they argue Biffle had a duty as the aircraft's registered owner to ensure its airworthiness regardless of who was flying it on the day. Lawyers for the Dutton families have signalled they will press the courts for full disclosure of maintenance logs, service contracts and any deferred items on the Cessna prior to its final flight.
People familiar with the case have noted that pursuing damages against a deceased pilot's estate is unusual but not unprecedented in aviation litigation. The Cessna 550 is a two-pilot certified business jet built by Cessna's Citation line during the late 1970s and 1980s, and well-maintained examples remain in regular charter and corporate use today. Investigators have not yet pinpointed a probable cause and are still examining engine, airframe and weather data.
For NASCAR, the lawsuit is the latest twist in a story that shocked the garage when news of the crash broke last winter. Biffle, the 2002 Busch Series champion and 2000 Truck Series champion, drove for Roush Fenway Racing through almost his entire Cup career and was widely respected as one of the most consistent stars of NASCAR's modern era. His death prompted tributes from competitors past and present, and he was remembered for using his own aircraft to ferry relief supplies into western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene tore through the region in 2024.
Reports surfaced earlier this month that Biffle's home in North Carolina was broken into in the weeks after the family's death, with investigators alleging that a small group of people known to the driver looted funds and items from the property. Those allegations, while separate from the wrongful death case, have drawn additional public attention to the handling of his estate.
The civil claims will now move through the discovery phase. Without an NTSB final report, both sides are likely to lean heavily on independent expert witnesses to interpret the engine, airframe and weather data already gathered. The estate has not commented publicly on either lawsuit.
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