Federal transportation officials have confirmed that a text message was sent from the plane which crashed in North Carolina on Thursday, with NASCAR legend Greg Biffle and his family on board.
The text, which investigators confirmed was sent from a passenger on board the plane to a family member, said simply 'emergency landing'.
A briefing was held on Saturday, with early investigations showing that the plane took off from one runway at Statesville Regional Airport on Thursday morning, before attempting to land on another after around ten minutes airborne.
The plane was stable on approach and had its landing lights on, but 'came in low', NTSB Board Member Michael Graham said.
Passenger in tragic crash sent 'one brief text'
The cockpit voice recorder has also been recovered and sent to a lab in Washington, D.C. for analysis. The plane did not carry a flight data recorder, which was not a requirement.
"I can confirm that the NTSB is aware of one brief text from a passenger on board the aircraft to a family member that read and I quote 'emergency landing'," Graham said at a news conference on Saturday.
Officials have yet to ascertain who was flying the plane at the time, with three of the occupants holding their pilot's licenses, including Biffle.
A preliminary report on the tragedy is expected to come in mid-January, with a final report likely to take at least a year.
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