Clayton Eatery Hit by Plane Honors First Responders

CLAYTON, N.C. — A popular Clayton restaurant held a dinner for first responders Tuesday night as a "thank you" for their fast work when a small plane slammed into the building.

McCall's BBQ and Seafood, at 10365 U.S. Highway 70 West, was heavily damaged on Sept. 21 when a single-engine, 1947 North American Navion crashed into the front of the restaurant.

"It could have been so much worse," co-owner Worth Westbrook said. "Everything that happened, we could replace those things. If some of our staff had gotten hurt, some of our customers had gotten hurt, we would never have recovered from that."

"Fifteen to 20 minutes later, our servers would have been in here. Anybody that would have been in here would have been dead,” General Manager Terry Tyner said.

McCall's hosted a free "First Responders, Friends and Family Night" dinner Tuesday evening for the men and women who helped after the crash.

"When you really need them (first responders), they were there for us, so we wanted to be there for them tonight,” Westbrook said.

The owners rebuilt McCall's in recent months to include a revamped dining area.

"Well, we're just really excited to be back," Westbrook said.

The pilot of the plane, Garry Stephen Reid, of Galivants Ferry, S.C., was killed. No one else was injured in the crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board has not yet determined the cause of the crash.