Another wrongful-death lawsuit has been filed in connection to the plane crash that killed seven people, including NASCAR champion Greg Biffle, his wife, and two children in December 2025.
In the lawsuit filed by Craig Wadsworth’s family, the contention is that Biffle hired an unqualified flight crew for economic reasons.
Wadsworth was a personal assistant and long-time friend of the former NASCAR driver.
Biffle’s estate has now had four wrongful death lawsuits totaling $40 million filed against it.
Wadsworth’s estate filed the lawsuit in Iredell County where the crash occurred at the Statesville (North Carolina) Regional Airport. In addition to Biffle’s estate, others named in the lawsuit are the estates of pilot Dennis Dutton, his 20-year-old son Jack Dutton, and GB Aviation Leasing LLC, a private aviation company owned by Biffle.
Wadsworth’s family is seeking at least $25,000, plus court costs and interest from the Biffle estate, the Dutton estates, and GB Aviation. In April, the estates of Dennis and Jack Dutton filed wrongful death lawsuits. About a month later, Nicole Biffle, Greg Biffle’s former wife and the mother of their 14-year-old daughter Emma who died in the crash, filed a wrongful death suit.
Jonathan Bachman/SRX//Getty Images
The suit claims Biffle and Dennis Dutton knew a qualified second co-pilot was required to fly the Cessna Citation II C550 business jet. However, they allowed Dutton’s son, Jack, to fly even though he wasn’t qualified.
The lawsuit contends Biffle was motivated “at least in part, by the desire to avoid the expense” of a professional co-pilot. It cites a conversation in which Dennis Dutton told Biffle he had found someone to be the co-pilot and it would be “cheap.”
The estate alleges Biffle was willfully negligent, chose personal convenience, cost savings, and an opportunity to give “an inexperienced airman” cockpit experience over stopping the flight or hiring someone more experienced which led to Wadsworth’s death.
Biffle’s GB Aviation Leasing company is accused in the lawsuit of not having an air carrier certificate, which the Federal Aviation Administration requires to operate as a commercial charter airline.
Wadsworth’s estate contends Biffle was negligent as Dutton’s boss and as the owner and manager of the company that authorized the crew. Dennis and Jack Dutton are also cited in the suit as being negligent as the pilot in command and as acting crewman.
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.