The legal battle over Greg Biffle’s fatal plane crash just took a major turn. A new lawsuit claims his aviation company failed to maintain the jet that went down last December, killing the NASCAR star and six others. Previous lawsuits pointed the finger at the pilot. Now, this new case blames the plane itself.
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Margaret Stephanie Dutton filed the lawsuit this week in Iredell County Superior Court. She is the widow of the flight’s pilot, Dennis Dutton, and the mother of Jack Dutton, who was sitting in the right cockpit seat. She is suing GB Aviation Leasing LLC and the administrator of Biffle’s estate.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Iredell County Superior Court, read, “NOW COMES Plaintiff Margaret Stephanie Dutton, Administrator of the Estate of Dennis Rollan Dutton and Administrator of the Estate of Jack Dutton, and files her Complaint, in this wrongful death action seeking compensatory damages pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 28A-18-2 arising out of the fatal crash of a Cessna Citation 550 (“the subject crash”), aircraft registration number N257BW (“Aircraft N257BW” or “Aircraft”), near Statesville Regional Airport (“SVH”) on December 18, 2025, which resulted in the deaths of Dennis Dutton and Jack Dutton.”
Biffle’s GB Aviation Leasing LLC owned and operated the ill-fated Cessna Citation 550 that crashed.
This is the latest move in a growing legal fight. In April, the Dutton family sued the Biffle estate for $15 million. A month later, Biffle’s ex-wife, Nicole Biffle, sued both estates over the death of her 14-year-old daughter, Emma.
Older lawsuits focused on what went wrong in the cockpit right before the crash. This case targets the plane’s condition. It asks for financial damages, arguing that GB Aviation Leasing skipped important safety checks and let an unsafe jet take off.
Greg Biffle, who was a licensed pilot for certain types of aircraft, was not flying the plane, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) preliminary findings. Instead, veteran pilot Dennis Dutton was at the controls, with his son, Jack Dutton, in the right cockpit seat. Biffle was sitting behind them as a passenger.
The NTSB also found that neither Biffle nor Jack were certified to fly the Citation 550. Dennis Dutton was qualified to operate the aircraft, but only with a properly certified second-in-command. While Jack was a licensed pilot, investigators found he had just over 175 hours of flight time, all in single-engine aircraft, and was not qualified to serve as second-in-command on the flight.
Several problems that developed before the flight took off were also noted in the preliminary investigation. Reportedly, the Cessna’s left engine initially failed to start, and Jack also discussed an inoperative thrust reverser indicator while taxiing. Biffle reportedly also observed that the left engine was producing more power than the right during takeoff from Statesville Regional Airport.
They decided to turn back and make an emergency landing, but reports suggest the crew ran into several problems along the way. These included instrument issues, communication delays with air traffic control (ATC), an automatic autopilot disengagement, and incorrect landing gear positioning. The jet eventually struck approach lights and trees before crashing short of the runway and bursting into flames. Investigators found no evidence of an uncontained engine failure, and the NTSB has not yet determined the cause of the crash.
Dennis Dutton was a retired U.S. Air Force Reserve pilot and former Delta Air Lines captain whose career spanned decades. His son Jack, an Auburn University aviation student, had recently earned his single-engine pilot certification and was working toward becoming a professional pilot himself.
While the NTSB’s investigation remains ongoing, the latest lawsuit opens a new legal front by questioning whether the aircraft itself was fit to fly before it ever left the ground.