4 family members die in North Carolina plane crash
Thu, Jan. 04, 2007
Jim Chitty, his wife Kay, and their two sons, 22-year old Jay and 13-year-old Taylor, died when Chitty's single-engine Cessna crashed on New Year's Eve in West Charlotte, N.C.
Haley Chitty, Jim and Kay's 25-year-old daughter, was at a conference in Greensboro, N.C. at the time of the crash. She has returned to the family home in Shelby, N.C. To read a statement by the family, please go to: http://www.shelbystar.com/story.php?ID=18858
The cause of the crash has not yet been determined. Jill Andrews, investigating officer for the National Transportation and Safety Board, told the Shelby Star that the pilot was in communication with the flight tower at the nearby airport but a transcript of the conversation wasn’t available Monday.
“He was not intending to land in Charlotte,” she said.
Ms. Andrews said a preliminary report outlining what they believe happened will be available in about a week. A final report will take six to nine months.
She said an NTSB salvage crew will move the debris to a hanger where all the parts will be laid out so investigators can recreate what happened.
The Chitty family was on the way back from a visit with Haley Chitty's grandmother in Kitty Hawk, N.C.
The four will be buried in Shelby on Friday, Jan. 5.
Mot Davis and two other employees at Jim Chitty’s appraisal and rental company on West Warren Street worked Tuesday even though their boss, his wife and two sons had died.
“I know he’d want me to keep this business going until Haley can make the appropriate decisions,” Ms. Davis said while choking back tears.
Ms. Davis was Chitty’s assistant for 21 years, and she manages the approximately 100 rental units and the AAA Mini Storage that his company owns. She said they needed to be open Tuesday to take people’s payments since it’s the first of the month.
“As well as I know Jim, this is what he’d want me to do,” Ms. Davis said. “We’ll go on with business as usual until told different.”
Ms. Davis said Chitty knew almost all the lawyers and bankers in Cleveland County and did between 80 and 90 percent of the residential appraisals in the county.
Deedie Dedmon, a Realtor with Century 21 in Shelby, agreed with Ms. Davis’ assessment and said the local real estate community is devastated by Chitty’s death.
“We’ve always depended on him, so now we’re asking ourselves who do we turn to now,” Ms. Dedmon said. “Jim was always so quick to answer questions and did a great job leading seminars for realtors.”
Local real estate attorney John Schweppe said Chitty was “a thoroughly confident appraiser with strong personal values.”
First National Bank Vice President Jim Wood said he talked to Chitty several times a week to appraise houses people would use as collateral when requesting loans.
“Jim was highly regarded in the market and knew trends in Cleveland County,” Wood said. “I trusted him and valued his opinion. Things will continue, but his death will definitely change the way we do business.”
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