This week, I’ve had the unfortunate honor of breaking news on the untimely deaths of two notable people. First was actor-director Rob Reiner’s murder, allegedly at the hands of his son, Nick, and then NASCAR star Greg Biffle’s plane crash on Thursday. Admittedly, when you’re the first person to jump in and learn and report the details of these topics, they typically stick with you, even if you’re not a big fan of the person involved. Or at least that’s the case for me.
I’ve never been much of a NASCAR fan, but I grew up around it, and Biffle is someone whom I’m aware of, especially after all he did last year to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. But he’s not someone to whom I gave much thought. However, I find myself looking at photos and reading about his family today and just feeling awful about the whole situation.
In case you missed it, Greg, who was 55, and his wife, Cristina Grossu Biffle, along with his 14-year-old daughter, Emma, and 5-year-old son, Ryder, all died in a plane crash on Thursday morning as they were landing at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina. There were also three other people on board, Craig Wadsworth, “a well-known figure in NASCAR circles who once drove former race car driver Kenny Wallace’s motorhome,” along with pilot Dennis Dutton and his son, Jack Dutton, an Auburn University student.
It is with a heavy heart I share the news that it has been confirmed that Greg Biffle, his wife Cristina Biffle, his 14-year-old daughter Emma, and his 5-year-old son Ryder, have passed on from this earth and into the glory of God. pic.twitter.com/HHTcH2XXLH
— Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) December 18, 2025
As it turns out, the Biffle family was en route to Sarasota, Fla, but the plane turned back shortly after takeoff and was attempting to land at Statesville.
It’s not yet clear what caused the crash. AccuWeather’s Dan DePodwin said that the airport faced adverse weather conditions. “Heavy drizzle and a cloud ceiling near 1,200 feet were reported at 10:15 a.m. The cloud ceiling had reportedly lowered to around 400 feet, with heavy rain reducing visibility to less than 2 miles at 10:30 a.m.,” he said. That’s one potential problem, as the crash happened around that time.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) held a press conference on Friday announcing that it would remove the wreckage and take it to a safer location for analysis. It also said that its team recovered the voice recorder from the plane, and that it’s asking for any witnesses for statements, videos, or photos of the crash.
What we do know is that the family knew something was wrong before it happened. In an exclusive interview with People, Biffle’s mother-in-law, Cathy, said that her daughter texted her moments before the crash. Her message? “We’re in trouble.” That was the last Cathy heard from Cristina.
“So we’re devastated. We’re brokenhearted,” Cathy told the media outlet. She also revealed that the reason why the group was on the plane was for a “birthday trip” — Greg would have turned 56 on December 23.
The family had actually been at Cathy’s house the day before, “I don’t remember what the last words that I said to my daughter or to Greg or to my precious Ryder,” she told People. “I don’t remember. I know we hugged, but I don’t remember those last words and that’s going to haunt me. But they were happy.”
She did remember that Cristina was thinking of others just before she departed on her trip. Biffle’s wife had asked her mother to help prepare some “Santa letters” so she could get them in the mail to bring joy to other families at Christmas.
And that brings me to the last thing I wanted to say. When a celebrity dies, you typically see an outpouring of tributes from, well, other celebrities about that person’s accomplishments. Over the last 24 hours or so, I’ve seen many tributes to the Biffle family, but I’m not sure that a single one of them had anything to do with NASCAR.
Every one of the tributes was about what they do for their community and their humanitarian work. As I mentioned, Biffle won over the hearts and minds of people in Western North Carolina when he used his own helicopter to help deliver supplies like insulin, diapers, food, water, and chainsaws to those who were stranded in the wake of Hurricane Helene. As one person on X put it, “to say he was a hero to our community is an understatement.”
While the whole situation is tragic, maybe this is something we can all take from it. Let us live lives that, when we die, people talk about how much we did for others, not for ourselves.
Footage of Greg Biffle in his personal helicopter back in October of 2024, finding stranded Helene victims in a field from over a mile away.
He said it took him six attempts to land, but he was able to finally touch down. Biffle delivered a chainsaw, EpiPens, insulin, formula,… pic.twitter.com/2AxAhlQXqP
— The Appalachian Podcast (@GetOnTap) December 18, 2025
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