NASCAR’s unfortunate connection with aviation disasters includes Greg Biffle and Alan Kulwicki

Thursday morning, the NASCAR community was shocked by yet another aviation tragedy: the death of legendary driver Greg Biffle. The Cessna 550 Citation private jet owned by Biffle crashed while attempting to land at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina. The tragic crash killed seven people, including Greg Biffle, his wife, two children, and three others.

NASCAR’s history is unexpectedly and tragically intertwined with the sky. Because of the tightly packed 38-race schedule and the need to move teams, owners, and drivers across the country quickly, the private plane travel is necessary to go race to race. But this convenience has come at a staggering cost.

The unfortunate connection between NASCAR and aviation disasters is perhaps best defined by the year 1993, when the sport lost two of its brightest drivers in the same year.

On April 1, 1993, while flying to Bristol Motor Speedway for a race, the 1992 NASCAR Cup Series champion Alan Kulwicki’s small jet plane crashed on approach to the airport in Blountville, Tennessee. He died alongside three others, including two sponsorship executives and the pilot. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) later attributed the crash to ice buildup in the engine inlets. He died at the age of 38.

Just three months after the sport mourned Kulwicki’s death, it lost superstar driver Davey Allison, the son of racing legend Bobby Allison, who was piloting his own helicopter into the infield of Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. During the landing attempt, the helicopter spun and crashed into the pavement. He sustained severe head injuries and died the following day.

One of the most painful non-driver losses came in 2004, when a plane carrying members of Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick’s family and several HMS employees crashed en route to Martinsville Speedway. All ten people aboard were killed due to foggy conditions.

Greg Biffle, wife Cristina, daughter Emma, and son Ryder were recent who died in plane crash.

Other major aviation incidents in NASCAR before Greg Biffle’s death

On the afternoon of September 15, 2019, Mike Stefanik, the 1999 NASCAR Truck Series champion, died in a plane crash. He was heading back to Riconn Airport when his single-seat Aero-Works Aerolite 103 experienced mechanical problems, causing it to lose power and crash in a wooded area adjacent to the airport in Sterling, Connecticut.

Southern 500 winner Curtis Turner died on October 4, 1970, when the small plane he was piloting crashed in Pennsylvania, after taking off from Dubois-Jefferson Airport. He was only 46.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour icon Ted Christopher, who was heading to Riverhead Raceway for a race, was also killed in a plane crash on September 16, 2017.

Richie Panch also lost his life in a plane crash along with the other three people when their Piper PA-28 Cherokee came apart mid-air during a heavy rain in Rion, South Carolina.

Greg Biffle ended his career with 19 Cup Series wins.

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Edited by Yash Soni