A supporter brings flowers to lay at a tribute at the NC Auto Racing Walk of Fame for Greg Biffle, on Friday in Mooresville, N.C. (AP photo)

STATESVILLE, N.C. — Federal investigators are trying to figure out why a business jet carrying retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and six others tried to return to a North Carolina airport just after takeoff but plowed into light poles and trees short of the runway, killing everyone on board.

The Cessna C550 erupted into a large fire when it hit the ground Thursday after first striking light towers and then a tree line about a third of a mile from the airport’s runway. They also don’t know who was the lead pilot. Biffle was one of three people on board with a pilot’s license.

The jet had departed Statesville Regional Airport, about 45 miles north of Charlotte, but crashed less than 10 minutes later while trying to return and land, authorities said.

Flight records indicate the plane was registered to a company run by Biffle. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were at the airport, attempting to determine the cause of the crash and why the plane had returned to the airport in drizzle and cloudy conditions.

Investigators recovered the cockpit voice recorder, which could provide important clues about what happened. They were not aware of any emergency calls from the jet, NTSB member Michael Graham said at a Friday news conference.

There were three pilots on board. Federal Aviation Administration records show Biffle was rated to fly helicopters, and single- and multi-engine planes. Also on board was pilot Dennis Dutton, Dutton’s son, Jack — who had a private pilot’s license for single-engine planes — and Biffle’s friend Craig Wadsworth.

Biffle’s wife, Cristina, and children Ryder, 5, and Emma, 14, were also killed in the crash, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said.

Cristina Biffle’s mother told People magazine that her daughter sent her a text message saying, “We’re in trouble,” before she didn’t hear from her again.

Federal investigators on Friday didn’t have answers yet about the crew.

Dennis Dutton was licensed and rated to fly this model of plane, but even then, he was supposed to fly with a co-pilot. Even though Biffle was rated to fly a multi-engine plane, he wasn’t listed as qualified to fly this particular jet or be a second officer. Dutton’s son, Jack, also had a pilot’s license but was only rated for single-engine planes.

“There is nobody else that has a second-in-command type rating in the airplane. So there’s a question on the crew,” aviation safety expert John Cox said.

The plane’s speed and altitude fluctuated significantly during the brief flight, and its path was consistent with a flight crew that experienced an issue and needed to return quickly, said former NTSB and FAA crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti.

At one point, the plane quickly soared from 1,800 feet up to 4,000 feet before descending again. Just before the crash, it was only a couple of hundred feet off the ground.

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Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press writers Allen G. Breed; Jenna Fryer in Charlotte, North Carolina; and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this story.