A Saturday news conference offered only a brief update from the National Transportation Safety Board regarding the Thursday morning aviation incident that claimed the lives of NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, his family and three others.
The NTSB officially began its investigation into the incident at Statesville Regional Airport on Friday, but had few details since preliminary interviews and data acquisition had only just begun.
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That was largely the theme of an update conducted Saturday morning, once again by board member Michael Graham and lead investigator Dan Baker.
“We still do not know the circumstances that led the plane … to attempt to return to the airport,” Graham said in an opening statement. “But that’s what we’re investigating.”
However, Graham confirmed a text message exchange that took place between Cristina Grossu Biffle, the former NASCAR star’s wife, and her mother, which was previously reported on Thursday.
Cathy Grossu told CBS on Friday that she had text messages with her daughter that morning.
“Then she said something like ‘We’re in trouble, emergency landing.’ And I said, ‘What’s wrong with the plane?'” Grossu told the station. “Then the next thing was (the SOS alert) that you get from your automatic Apple phones when you have an accident or something. And so I knew something was wrong.”
On Friday, Graham said he was unaware of that message and requested additional details from those who had direct knowledge of it and received it between news conferences.
“This morning I can confirm that the NTSB is aware of a brief text message from a passenger on board the plane to a family member that said ’emergency landing’ (but) we are not aware of any other communication from passengers on board the plane with those on the ground,” Graham said.
Graham added that the NTSB still doesn’t know who the pilot was during the 10 minutes between takeoff and the failed emergency return to the airport.
Biffle was a licensed pilot, as were Dennis and Jack Dutton. Also aboard the plane were Biffle’s 14-year-old daughter Emma (with first wife Nicole Lunders), his 5-year-old son Ryder, and longtime NASCAR regular Craig Wadsworth.
“I have no additional information on who was sitting in the left seat at the time,” Graham said. “We anticipate that all information on all occupants assessed by the pilot will be included in our preliminary report.”
That should happen within 30 days, although the agency’s final analysis will take 12 to 18 months.
Graham said the NTSB had some confidence in the identity of the pilot, but needed to verify it before releasing it.
“At this point, we have a lot of really good information,” Graham said. “We’re pretty confident with the left seat occupant, but we have to verify it. We have to be precise in what we do. And from a survival standpoint, which is part of what we’re investigating, we want to know where everyone was sitting and that’s a little more difficult in a crash like this.”
In the 12 hours between the two news conferences, Graham said the NTSB had taken numerous witness statements and was validating the evidence obtained.
“Initial indications from multiple sources indicate that the aircraft was stable on approach, configured to land with lights on,” Graham said. “But the plane was arriving at a low altitude.
“This information is consistent with the debris field that our team continues to study and is consistent with the initial impact points on the airport runway light candlestick located approximately 1,800 feet from the runway threshold.”
However, Graham added that there is enough technical evidence to determine why this was the case.
“It looked like the plane was properly configured for landing, but that wasn’t the case in the videos,” Graham said. “But we have no further indication as to what went wrong at this time.”
Since Friday morning’s update, the NTSB has documented the debris field, packaging of the plane’s wreckage, component locations and flight controls. The flight voice recorder was transported to NTSB headquarters in Washington, DC and the data is being retrieved by specialists.
Among the elements collected from the debris for analysis:
Ground proximity warning system Garmin multifunction display Warning warning signs Various cockpit instruments
“All of these items are sent to the NTSB recording laboratories in Washington, D.C.,” Graham said. “We will determine whether relevant data and information can be retrieved from these units.”
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Graham said those items would prove helpful in determining probable cause.
The NTSB also received the maintenance log and will use all of this information to determine weight, balance and impact loading.
Both engines were analyzed and a drone was able to take off on Friday in the middle of a very windy day, but was only able to complete this work on Saturday morning, once conditions had calmed.
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