Winston-Salem Doctor, Pilot Killed in Plane Crash

Pilot's identity to be released pending notification of family

Dr. Thomas Littlejohn III (WGHP)

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Scott Gustin Staff Writer

7:00 p.m. EDT, March 31, 2011

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HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP)—

Officials have identified one of the victims killed in a plane crash in High Point on Wednesday.

The pilot and passenger Dr. Thomas Littlejohn III of Winston-Salem were killed after a small plane crashed into a house short of the PTI runway on Wednesday, FAA officials said. The pilot's identity has still not been released.

PHOTOS | AUDIO: Air Traffic Control | 911 Call

NTSB air safety investigator Dennis J. Diaz identified the aircraft as a Beechcraft Baron 58 with tail number N569JL. The flight, operated by Jet Logistics of Charlotte, was an on-demand charter flight from Wilmington to Winston-Salem, but was diverted to Greensboro due to bad weather, FAA officials said.

Roger Littlejohn said his brother was returning from a business trip to Wilmington.

Dr. Littlejohn was president and medical director of PMG Research, which has offices in Winston-Salem, Wilmington and seven other locations in North Carolina and Tennessee.

Dr. Littlejohn was featured in a 2009 Buckley Report.

Dr. Littlejohn practiced at Maplewood Family Practice in Winston-Salem. He had more than 20 years experience in clinical research and had a national reputation. Maplewood colleague Dr. Tom Cannon released a statement on Thursday:

We are very saddened by the tragic loss of Dr. Thomas Littlejohn, III, treasured friend, colleague, and co-founder of Maplewood Family Practice. He was a gifted physician, astute businessman, and excellent medical partner. We will miss him greatly, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family.

PMG officials said they were too upset to comment on Dr. Littlejohn's loss.

Sochan Rumthao and his three elementary school-aged children escaped the home uninjured. Rumthao gave an eyewitness account for the first time on Thursday.

AUDIO: 911 Calls
911 Call: "A house just blew up."
911 Call | Plane Crash: #1
911 Call | Plane Crash: #2
911 Call | Plane Crash: #3

The crash occurred at 5:47 p.m. Wednesday on Brian Hollars Court and Dairy Point Drive in the Frazier Downs neighborhood near Interstate 40.

Diaz said the plane first hit trees 1/2 mile before the crash site and clipped one home about six feet off the ground before crashing into Rumthao's home. No one was in the other home at the time of the crash.

NTSB investigators arrived in High Point around noon Thursday to investigate the crash. They will spend 2-3 days on site and release a preliminary report in 5-10 days, Diaz said. A full investigation usually takes 9-12 months, Diaz said.

Diaz said weather is part of the investigation, but he said he had not yet completely reviewed the weather data. At the time of the crash, visibility near the airport was just 1/4 mile 100 feet above the ground, National Weather Service officials said.

The plane was on a flight plan involving instrument flight rules, normally used during adverse weather or periods of low visibility, Diaz said.

The plane did not have a black box, as planes that small are not required to by law, Diaz said.




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• Images: Driver Munching Fries Causes Wreck, Officials Say

CARROLL COUNTY, Va. -- A woman munching on french fries caused a crash with a tractor-trailer and another car along Interstate 77 north on Wednesday afternoon, Hillsville firefighters said.Volunteer firefighter David Young said the woman lost control of her car and crashed into another car.The vehicle then spun around and struck the guard rail before running into a tractor-trailer, Young said.Young said no one was injured in the crash.Virginia State Police officials said the woman was charged with failure to control her vehicle. Her name wasn't released, but officials said she was from South Carolina.Officials said speed and weather played no role in the wreck.One lane of traffic that was blocked, but had been reopened by 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Last Suspect Held In Gang Rape Of Calif. Girl, 11

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POSTED: 8:48 am EDT March 28, 2011
UPDATED: 4:11 pm EDT March 28, 2011

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MORENO VALLEY, Calif. -- The last suspect in the gang rape of an 11-year-old girl at a park bathroom was arrested Monday, authorities said. Michael Sykes, 19, of Moreno Valley, was arrested at a home in that city about 70 miles east of Los Angeles, Riverside County sheriff's spokeswoman Courtney Donowho said. She had no other details. Sykes was the eighth person arrested in the gang rape at Victoriano Park in Moreno Valley. He and the six boys accused of raping the girl are believed to belong to a local street gang, authorities have said. The other boys were arrested shortly after the attack, along with a girl who is suspected of luring the victim into the bathroom so she could be raped, investigators said. Their names were not released because they are all minors, although the boys were over the age of 14, authorities said. The 11-year-old was approached by the older girl, whom she knew, at a shopping center on the afternoon of March 10 and was led to the park where the male gang members were waiting to assault her, Lt. Chad Bianco told the Riverside Press-Enterprise. "It appears what happened is they were looking for a victim," he said. "It shocks you to your core," county Sheriff Stan Sniff told the newspaper Sunday. "It never ceases to amaze me how vicious these things can be." Sheriff's Investigator Matt Diaz says no other details were being released. The attack, which was on the south side of the city near Moreno Valley College, wasn't made public until Sunday. "As a father - even as a police officer - there are crimes that shock us. This is one of them," said Capt. John Anderson, chief of the Moreno Valley station. The attack was in an area where gangs and crime aren't a problem, Anderson said. It was the second time in a month that a little girl was sexually attacked in a park in Riverside County. In February, three 13-year-old boys were arrested after a middle school student told officers a boy sexually assaulted her while the two others held her down at Banning's Roosevelt Williams Park. The boys and the victim attended Nicolette Middle School, and investigators said it wasn't a gang-related attack. ___

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BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. -- "Pawn Stars" reality TV show co-star Corey "Big Hoss" Harrison has been arrested after a barroom run-in at a California mountain resort. San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Arden Wiltshire says the 27-year-old Las Vegas man shoved a deputy and security guard late Sunday at Murray's Saloon and Eatery in Big Bear Lake about 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles. Harrison was booked into the Big Bear Lake jail for investigation of battery and resisting arrest after the incident. Wiltshire says Harrison was held for a couple of hours to let him sober up. He was cited and released. The San Bernardino County Sun says Harrison and another customer got into an argument, and the deputy and guard were attacked while investigating the dispute.

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RALEIGH -- The state House has agreed to allow people with concealed weapons permits in North Carolina to take their pistols into restaurants that serve alcohol and public parks. House members voted 74-42 on Wednesday in favor of expanding places where legally armed citizens can carry a gun. The bill now goes to the Senate. The measure also would allow local government restrictions in parks around ball fields and swimming pools. Bill sponsor Rep. Mark Hilton of Conover said 40 states already allow permit holders to carry concealed guns in restaurants where alcohol is served. But Rep. Deborah Ross of Raleigh pointed to a fatal 2008 shooting in an Edgecombe County bar as proof alcohol and guns shouldn't mix. Restaurants could still post signs barring concealed weapons.

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POSTED: 6:49 pm EDT March 30, 2011
UPDATED: 8:44 pm EDT March 30, 2011

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• Images: IMAGES: Plane Crashes On PTIA Runway Approach

HIGH POINT, N.C. -- A plane crashed into a house in the Frasier Downs neighborhood off Sandy Ridge Road at about 5:45 p.m. Thursday, killing the pilot and a passenger, Federal Aviation Administration officials said. View Slideshow Four people were in the home on Devane Court and made it out safely.Jim Downing, who lives one street away from the home, said he was on his way home from work when he heard an explosion.“I could see the flame and fire and some kids were jumping around,” Downing said.Downing said he ran over to find out what happened, but by that time, the father and his three children were outside.Not long after, fire crews arrived at the home and had the fire out by 7 p.m., officials said.“There was various piles of debris in the back yard of the house and the back yard of the house next door. It almost is like it dropped from the sky,” Downing said.

Downing said the plane crashed at the ground level of the home.“I was in the house watching TV and I heard a loud bang. I ran outside and saw the engine in the street. Some people were yelling. Some people were crying. Initially I thought a car had crashed into the house,” another witness, Carl Hall, said.High Point Fire Capt. Denita Lynch said a neighboring house was clipped as the plane went down. No one was at home at that house at the time, Lynch said.Downing said neighbors helped the children with blankets to keep them warm. Lynch said the Red Cross was assisting the family.Officials said the plane, a Beechcraft Baron, was attempting to land at Piedmont Triad International Airport. It has been en route to Winston-Salem when it was diverted to Greensboro due to adverse weather conditions.The plane is owned by Charlotte-based Jet Logistics, which offers charter flight services in North Carolina.The names of the victims weren't immediately released.

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New Black Panthers Leader to Obama: You Should Have Listened to Calypso Louie Farrakhan

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The Constitution Club ^ | 03-28-11 | The Region Rat

Posted on Monday, March 28, 2011 11:56:42 PM by TheConservativeCitizen
MALIK ZULU SHABAZZ GOES ON N-WORD RANT AGAINST THE PRESIDENT
“Barack Obama represents the ideology of the white man, he represents the CIA sabotage set-up lies on an African leader and bomb that man like he’s George Bush. His wife should leave the n***a tonight and his beautiful daughters should walk out on bamboozling, buck-dancing tom. You should have listened to Louis Farrakhan a long time ago when you were at his table.”
MZS (doesn’t have quite the same ring as MLK, does it?) is miffed with Barrack Obama. The reason? “Whatever Barrack Obama doin’ he represents the white man.” The Black Panthers Leader says it’s time for Obama to pay for his infatuation with all things cracker.
Shabazz is the same guy who sent billy club-wielding Black Panther thugs dressed in scary Halloween costumes to intimidate voters at a Philadelphia polling center. Curiously, not only did Obama fail to condemn the action, the Department of Justice, under Eric Holder, elected to dismiss the case.
C’mon Malik, where’s your gratitude?
Ironically, this may work in Obama’s favor. The beleaguered president might actually get some sympathy as a result of an attack by the same loon who said. “I hate white people. All of them. Every last iota of a cracker. I hate them.” Then there was this gem: “You want freedom? You’re going to have to kill some crackers. You going to have to kill some of their babies.”
Our poor president doesn’t seem to be able to make anybody happy these days.
Maybe Malik will join Dennis Kucinich in his effort to impeach Obama!

26th MEU aims to safeguard Libyans, key city

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Lance Cpl. Michael S. Lockett A Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s AV-8B Harrier jump jet returns to USS Kearsarge for fuel and ammunition resupply while conducting air strikes in support of Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn, March 20, 2011. Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn is the U.S. Africa Command task force established to provide operational and tactical command and control of U.S. military forces supporting the international response to the unrest in Libya and enforcement of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1973. UNSCR 1973 authorizes all necessary measures to protect civilians in Libya under threat of attack by Qadhafi regime forces. JTF Odyssey Dawn is commanded by U.S. Navy Admiral Samuel J. Locklear, III.

Posted: Thursday, March 24, 2011 12:00 am | Updated: 1:53 pm, Wed Mar 23, 2011.

26th MEU aims to safeguard Libyans, key city Capt Richard K. Ulsh 26th MEU Public Affairs The Globe | 0 comments

USS Kearsarge, At sea - In an effort to safeguard the Libyan populace and infrastructure in and around the city of Ajdabiyah from further attacks by regime forces, 26th MEU, as part of Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn, launched a second round of strikes by AV-8B Harrier jump jets, March 20.
Conditions set forth by the U.N. Security Council towards resolving the unrest in Libya included the removal of Libyan Leader Muammar al-Qadhafi's forces from Ajdubiyah. These latest strikes by the MEU aimed at preserving the sanctity of the city and the safety of the civilians within it.
"Our primary concern was ensuring the people inside Ajdubiyah were safe from Qadhafi's artillery and tanks," said Col. Mark J. Desens, commanding officer of 26th MEU. "Everything we are seeing following these strikes indicates that his forces are now less capable of threatening the town than before."
Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn is the U.S. Africa Command task force established to provide operational and tactical command and control of U.S. military forces supporting the international response to the unrest in Libya and enforcement of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1973. UNSCR 1973 authorizes all necessary measures to protect civilians in Libya under threat of attack by Qadhafi regime forces. JTF Odyssey Dawn is commanded by U.S. Navy Admiral Samuel J. Locklear, III.

---

For more information on 26th MEU visit http://www.marines.mil/unit/26thmeu or follow us on Facebook and Twitter, @26MEU. Still and video imagery are available at http://www.dvidshub.net/units/26MEU. For media queries contact Capt. Richard Ulsh, 26th MEU public affairs officer at richard.ulsh@usmc.mil.

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- A billboard advertising the benefits of a weekend getaway to Winston-Salem will appear on a billboard in Times Square.Visit Winston-Salem spokesman Richard Geiger said the group has also purchased a half-page ad that will appear in the NY Post.The ad text, "Wonderful weekends in Winston-Salem strike the perfect balance," encourages potential visitors to come to Winston-Salem to relax and unwind.Geiger said there are 1.5 million people who travel through Times Square who could see the ad.Geiger added that North Carolina is a "very positive brand in New York City."Click here to view the ad.

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KING, N.C. -- A dentist in King is having his license yanked by a state panel because of a report that says he overbilled Medicaid to help fund an opulent lifestyle. The Winston-Salem Journal reported Tuesday that the state Board of Dental Examiners has ordered Sassan Bassiri to surrender his license by April 18. A report by board investigators claims that Bassiri sent false bills to Medicaid to help cover purchases including a house worth nearly $1 million and a condo in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The report claims Bassiri used incorrect Medicaid reimbursement codes about 19,000 times between 2003 and 2009. Bassiri's lawyer said his client made mistakes and plans to repay Medicaid. Steven Shaber said Bassiri hasn't decided whether to appeal.