Yet another lawsuit filed against the estate of the late NASCAR driver.
The ex-wife of former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, who passed away in a plane crash in North Carolina last December, has filed a lawsuit against the estate of her ex-husband, alleging negligence that ultimately took the life of their daughter.
The retired NASCAR driver was among 7 people killed in the deadly plane crash, which also claimed the life of his wife Cristina Grossu, his children Emma and Ryder, longtime NASCAR crew member Craig Wadsworth, and pilot Dennis Dutton and his son Jack Dutton.
Emma Biffle was the only child of Biffle and his ex-wife, Nicole Lunders, who divorced in 2016 after nearly 8 years of marriage.
Earlier this year, the NTSB released their preliminary report on the crash and shed more light on the final moments of the ill-fated flight.
The private Cessna Citation II owned by Biffle’s company crashed on December 18, 2025 just minutes after taking off from the Statesville Regional Airport. The NTSB confirmed that Dennis Dutton was the pilot of the aircraft, and that his son Jack was in the co-pilot seat. However, despite the fact that both Jack Dutton and Biffle were pilots themselves, neither possessed the proper rating to serve as co-pilot in the aircraft.
While taxiing on the runway, the cockpit voice recorder captured conversation between the three about a thrust reverser light that wasn’t working, but it seems they all agreed that the thrust reverser (which slows down a plane when landing) was operating properly.
During takeoff, Biffle commented that the left engine was producing more power than the right, and that it may be an issue with a gauge, but Dutton continued with the takeoff. While climbing, Biffle also pointed out a difference in temperatures between the left and right engines.
Soon thereafter, Dennis Dutton remarked that his altitude indicator wasn’t functioning properly, and that other gauges on the left side of the cockpit may not be working either. He then transferred control of the plane to his son, who was seated beside him but not rated to fly this particular aircraft.
At some point, the NTSB determined that Dennis took back control of the plane, and the pilots began configuring the plane for landing. Around this time, Jack Dutton made an announcement on the radio that the plane was “having some issues.”
It seems they continued to try to troubleshoot, with Biffle suggesting a problem with the alternator, though the NTSB notes that the model of plane isn’t equipped with an alternator. (Some pilots have suggested that he meant the generator, and that turning the generator back on solved the issues with the gauges and radio communication – but by that point they were already preparing for landing.
The plane continued to turn back towards the airport, with both Jack and Dennis Dutton confirming that they could see the runway.
From there, the plane continued to lose altitude and speed until audio and GPS data ended at 10:15 AM, less than 10 minutes after takeoff.
The full NTSB report isn’t expected to be released until late 2026, so we still don’t know exactly what happened or what caused the accident. But in her lawsuit, Nicole alleges that mistakes on behalf of both Biffle and Dutton led to the deadly crash.
According to the complaint, which was filed on behalf of the estate of Emma Biffle and has been reviewed by Whiskey Riff:
“The negligent conduct that ultimately led to the crash of N257BW began well before the jet aircraft began to taxi.”
Lunders cites the fact that an IFR, or an instrument flight plan (required if a pilot plans to fly using only instruments and without visual contact with the ground) was never activated despite being filed, and also alleges that because of poor weather conditions the crew should have remained in radio contact with air traffic control both before takeoff and during the flight.
She also alleges that one of the engines failed to start, and that after using power from the other engine, the pilots failed to turn on the generator to restore power that was depleted during the start-up sequence. (Basically, the left engine didn’t start, so power was fed from the right engine to start the left, which drained the battery to the right engine). The pilots then continued their takeoff with the generator turned off, despite issues with the instruments that should have alerted them to a problem.
The lawsuit claims that the pilots should have aborted the takeoff once they realized there was an issue, but instead attempted to continue on with the flight.
Once they were in the air, the complaint says that the plane remained below the clouds to maintain visual contact with the ground, a dangerous move that “is a frequent cause of fatal accidents due to controlled flight into obstacles or terrain.”
During the short flight, Biffle pointed out the discrepancy between the gauges, which the complaint alleges could be due to “waning battery power” from the takeoff and lack of generators. And eventually, the plane entered the clouds, which it wasn’t supposed to due to a lack of an IFR.
“This perilous situation was created by the negligent and grossly negligent actions of those flying and controlling and directing the flight of the aircraft, pilot-in-command Dennis Dutton and owner/occupant Greg Biffle.”
The complaint says that the “emergency” ended when Biffle pointed out that the generator (which he called the alternator) was off, and that once it was activated power was restored to the engines and gauges. But the crew continued to try to return to the airport, which led to the fatal crash.
Now, obviously these are all allegations, and we won’t know any more about what actually happened until the NTSB releases their full report. But the complaint alleges that it was not only the pilots but Biffle responsible for the plane crash, and asks for an undetermined amount of damages due to the loss of their daughter.
The lawsuit also comes weeks after two $15 million wrongful death lawsuits were filed against the Biffle estate by the estates of both Dennis and Jack Dutton.
Biffle’s estate is being managed by his niece, Jordyn Carpenter Biffle. And of course all this comes amid an investigation surrounding a fraud scheme in which authorities allege someone close to Greg Biffle accessed his bank accounts shortly after his death and stole “hundreds of thousands” of dollars, as well as a burglary at his Mooresville, North Carolina home in which thieves allegedly stole $30,000.
What a terrible thing for everybody involved to have to deal with.
