Remembering sports figures killed in air disasters

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All seven people aboard a business jet that crashed Thursday at a regional airport in North Carolina are confirmed dead, including former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, who reportedly was onboard with his wife Cristina and their two children.

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The deaths were confirmed by North Carolina Congressman, Rep. Richard Hudson.

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Sadly, Biffle, 55, who retired in 2022 having won 19 Cup Series races during his 20-year career, is not the only athlete to die in a plane crash.

Here’s a look at other athletes and sports figures who have lost their lives via air disasters:

Figure skaters (2025)

Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. government admitted that the actions of an air traffic controller and Army helicopter pilots played a role in causing the Jan. 29 collision between an airliner and a Black Hawk near Washington, D.C, that killed 67 people, including a group of elite young figure skaters. Youngsters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, and former world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were among the dead.

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Kobe Bryant (2020)

NBA all-star Kobe Bryant was killed along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020. Bryant, 41, retired from the Los Angeles Lakers four years earlier. The five-time NBA champ was posthumously elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.

Roy Halladay (2017)

The death of one of the greatest pitchers to ever done a Blue Jays uniform shocked the baseball world. The single-engine plane that Halladay was piloting crashed into the Gulf of Mexico on Nov. 7, 2017. Halladay retired at the end of the 2013 MLB season with 203 wins and 2,117 career strikeouts. The long-serving Jays ace was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019.

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team (2011)

Eight crew members and 37 passengers died, including 26 players with the KHL team, as their plane crashed during a flight to Minsk, Belarus.

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Cory Lidle (2006)

The one-time Blue Jays pitcher had just wrapped up his ninth MLB season, with the New York Yankees, when he died Oct. 11 as he was piloting a small plane that crashed into a Manhattan office building.

Payne Stewart (1999)

The three-time major champion was killed just four months after he captured the U.S. Open. The pro golfer was one of six people aboard a private jet that lost cabin pressure before crashing near Aberdeen, S.D., on Oct. 25, 1999.

Davey Allison and Alan Kulwicki (1993)

In another tragedy involving NASCAR, the two drivers died a little more than three months apart in separate crashes.

Kulwicki, the 1992 series champ, was flying to an upcoming race in Bristol, Tenn., when his plane crashed on April 1, 1993.

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Allison, the 1992 Daytona 500 winner, died on July 13, one day after the helicopter he was piloting crashed on the infield at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.

Thurman Munson (1979)

The New York Yankees catcher and 1976 AL MVP died at age 32 when the private jet he was piloting crashed near his home in Canton, Ohio, on Aug. 2, 1979.

University of Evansville basketball team (1977)

All 14 players and head coach Bobby Watson of the Evansville Purple Aces were among 29 people who died when the DC-3 bound for Nashville crashed during takeoff at the Evansville regional airport on Dec. 13, 1977.

Roberto Clemente (1972)

The Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder and 15-time MLB all-star was killed in a plane crash on Dec. 31, 1972, while on his way to deliver supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Shortly after takeoff, the plane plummeted into the Atlantic Ocean. The 38-year-old had just completed his 18th season in the major leagues, collecting his 3,000th hit on the final weekend of the 1972 season.

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Marshall University football team (1970)

The deadliest plane crash involving a sports team in U.S. history happened on Nov. 14, 1970, when a chartered DC-9 carrying 36 Marshall University football players and 39 coaches, support staff and crew crashed into a hill as it was preparing to land in Huntington, West Va.

Rocky Marciano (1969)

The former world heavyweight champion boxer was one of three people who died on Aug. 31, 1969, as their private plane crashed into a field near Newton, Iowa. Marciano retired from boxing in 1956 with a 49-0 record.

U.S. figure skating team (1961)

The entire U.S. national team died in a plane crash in Belgium on Feb. 15, 1961. They were on their way to the world championships in Prague.

Manchester United (1958)

Knute Rockne (1931)

The legendary Notre Dame football coach died on March 31, 1931, at age 43 when a plane carrying him and seven others crashed near Bazaar, Kansas. His Fighting Irish won three national titles during his 13 years as coach.

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