CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The memorial service for former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, his family and others who were killed in a plane crash last month has begun at Charlotte's Bojangles Coliseum with hundreds of racing fans, friends and former co-workers in attendance.
The service, which is open to the public, is being livestreamed on NASCAR platforms.
Biffle was among seven killed along with his wife, Cristina, and children Ryder, 5, and Emma, 14, when the plane crashed as it returned to the airport in Statesville, North Carolina, according to authorities. Others on the plane were identified as Dennis Dutton, his son Jack, and Craig Wadsworth.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation by the NTSB.
As fans prepared to enter the coliseum, they paused to peer inside three of the vehicles Biffle raced during his career outside in the parking lot.
Inside, the pictures of the seven who lost their lives where shown on a videoboard above the makeshift platform in the center of the arena.
Among those who are scheduled to speak include Phil Parsons, Jeff Burton, Jordyn Biffle and Garrett Mitchell, according to a program.
The 55-year-old Biffle was selected by NASCAR as one of its top 75 drivers in history, was a Hall of Fame nominee for the stock car series and drove for 18 years at the top of the sport. He drew headlines last year with tireless humanitarian efforts as a helicopter pilot supplying aid in the devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene.
The Cessna C550 erupted in flames when it hit the ground shortly after it had departed Statesville Regional Airport, about an hour's drive north of Charlotte. The plane crashed while trying to return and land, authorities said.
In a letter written by Nicole Biffle that she was too grief-stricken to read herself at her daughter’s service, she agonized over her decision to allow Emma to fly that day knowing Emma wasn’t feeling well. She had purchased tickets to Italy as a present for her daughter the night before the crash.
The crash a week before Christmas left the NASCAR community shaken and was another blow in a long offseason. Ten days later, on the 52nd wedding anniversary of Denny Hamlin’s parents, the house the future Hall of Famer built to repay them for their years of sacrifice burned down. His father, Dennis, was killed, and Mary Lou Hamlin was rushed to a hospital burn unit.
Sheriff's deputies are also investigating an alleged break-in and theft last week at Biffle's home in Mooresville that netted $30,000 in cash, some guns and memorabilia.
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