Charlotte-area father and son killed in Statesville plane crash were both pilots

Dennis and Jack Dutton, a father and son who were both pilots, were among the seven people killed in Thursday’s plane crash at Statesville Regional Airport.

Dennis Dutton remembered for kindness

Dennis Dutton, 67, had a lifelong love of flight. A retired US Air Force Reserves pilot, Dutton was a captain with Delta Airlines, where he’d been flying commercial planes since 1991.

Coworkers described him as a “great person,” lauding his leadership and business acumen.

“He is energetic, charismatic and committed to excellence in everything he does,” former coworker Fred Sutterlin wrote in a LinkedIn recommendation.

Dutton, who LinkedIn says lived in Davidson, was a husband, father of four and grandfather to three boys, according to his Instagram. He often traveled — frequently with his family — visiting Machu Picchu, Tokyo, Paris Australia and Argentina. Dutton enjoyed bluegrass and Americana, venturing to MerleFest in 2015 with a close friend and following artists like Mary Gauthier and The Dead South, his Facebook shows.

On Facebook, posts made after the fatal crash remember Dutton’s integrity. One, by a woman who said she worked for the Dutton family for many years, said he was “truly one of the good ones.”

“Kind, honest and the kind of man who would do anything for anyone,” the post read.

Dutton also spent nearly 14 years renovating old buildings into condos as the co-owner of a development group headquartered in Kentucky, his LinkedIn page says.

Auburn student and mentor’s loss ‘deeply felt’

Jack Dutton, 20, was following in his father’s footsteps. The youngest of four children, he studied aviation at Auburn University, where he was in the school’s professional flight program. Dutton became certified to fly single-engine planes just three weeks before his death, after a “long, difficult journey,” a LinkedIn entry says.

While in college, Dutton worked as a barista at a local coffee shop and joined Alpha Sigma Phi, where he was named the 2026 rush chairman.

Last summer, Dutton was a counselor at Camp Timberlake, a Christian boys camp nestled among the western North Carolina mountains in Marion, according to his LinkedIn. He “led in cabin life and various outdoor activities, specializing in guitar and tennis” and counseling boys aged 11-12 and 6-7. Photos show he joined in on the camp’s paint initiation rituals and diversions like water sports.

He’d joined the camp the previous summer as a counselor in training, according to his LinkedIn.

Dutton graduated from William Amos Hough High School in Cornelius in 2024. There he played on the school’s tennis team and dabbled in photography, mentoring students on the yearbook staff. Dutton’s LinkedIn shows he founded and led a school club that hosted weekly meetings at Bailey’s Glen retirement home in Cornelius, where volunteers helped seniors navigate technology.

Hough’s athletics department, in a post on X published after word of the crash spread, said Dutton was a “beloved teammate and friend.”

“Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the tragic loss of Jack…and his father, Dennis,” the post reads. “This loss is deeply felt across the Hough community and beyond.”

Dutton’s loss has been felt across the wider Auburn community. In comments on his last Instagram post — where Dutton posed with friends in Halloween costumes and fraternity brothers in jackets and ties, as well as in front of aircraft — classmates remembered him as a confidant and familiar face around campus.

“Jack, words can’t describe how much you meant to me as a friend. I could always turn to you no matter what was going on in each other’s lives,” one comment reads. “Being able to talk to you every day was a blessing.”

A news release from the crash victims’ families said the Duttons’ loss is “felt by all who knew them.”

“Dennis Dutton and his son Jack were deeply loved,” the release said.

This story was originally published December 19, 2025 at 3:27 PM with the headline "Charlotte-area father and son killed in Statesville plane crash were both pilots."

Amber Gaudet

The Charlotte Observer

Amber is an investigative reporter for The Charlotte Observer. She’s produced award-winning business and investigative work, including a housing series that led to a federal inquiry and Texas state law change in 2023. Amber holds a master’s degree from the University of North Texas’ Mayborn School of Journalism.