Greg Biffle, one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers who became known in his later years for his humanitarian work, died along with three family members in a plane crash Thursday.

A former Nascar driver and his family were among the seven people killed in a plane crash at a regional airport in North Carolina, the car-racing organisation has said.

He joins a somber roll of athletes who died in plane or helicopter crashes, including fellow race car drivers Alan Kulwicki and Davey Allison, who died in separate accidents in 1993.