Family, neighbors coming to grips with tragedy

azfamily.com

PHOTOS: Family, wreckage
PHOTOS: Memorial ouside family's home
VIDEO: Coming to grips
VIDEO: NTSB investigating
UNCUT: Neighbors talk to 3TV

UPDATE:

GILBERT - A memorial stands outside a Gilbert home after five family members were killed in a plane crash in Santa Rosa, New Mexico.

Now investigators are trying to figure out what could have caused the fatal collision.

A quiet Gilbert neighborhood has forever changed. Friends and neighbors are remembering Ules "jay" Pitts Jr., his wife Marian, their daughters Jessica and Jennifer and son Jeremy who were killed when their Cessna 206 headed to Chicago went down in Santa Rosa, New Mexico over the weekend.

Neighbor Bob Galbo and his family knew the victims' well. He says “Jay” Pitts was an experienced pilot.

According to investigators, the plane went down shortly after taking off from the Santa Rosa airport where the pilot had stopped to refuel. The NTSB will be looking at three main factors: Man, machine and environment. The investigation could take at least a year to be completed.

In the meantime the couple's 22-year-old daughter, Melissa, who was not on the plane, is left to say goodbye to her family.

The Pitts family released a statement thanking the first responders who tried to save the family.

ORIGINAL REPORT:

GILBERT - In an almost inconceivable and tragic coincidence, a second plane crash over the weekend is also taking its toll on an Arizona community.

A family of five from Gilbert was killed when the plane they were traveling in crashed in Santa Rosa, N.M.

The victims have been identified as Ules Pitts Jr., 42; his wife, Marian Pitts, 41; and three of their children, Jessica, 18, Jennifer, 16, and Jeremy, 13.

The cause of the crash is still unknown at this time while the NTSB investigates. In the meantime, 3TV is learning more about the victims who died in this crash. It was five members of a Gilbert family. Their relatives tell 3TV that the victims were headed to Chicago to visit other relatives and to celebrate the Fourth of July.

The family took off from a Chandler airport Sunday morning at about 6 a.m. and stopped to refuel in Santa Rosa, N.M.

According to the FAA, the plane went down shortly after take-off at about 1 p.m.

Santa Rosa Police in New Mexico say there were no distress signals from the plane before it crashed.

The NTSB has already sent a team of investigators to gather evidence to try and determine what went wrong.

In the meantime neighbors who knew the victims are stunned. They tell 3TV that the family was very well-liked and respected in the Gilbert community.

In a bittersweet twist, relatives tell 3TV that the family’s eldest daughter, Melissa, did not go on the trip because she had just started a new job.