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Friday update: High Point police identified the pilot of the plane as 50-year-old Marcia Salmons-Keaton of Fuquay-Varina.

Here's the story that appeared in today's News & Record:

HIGH POINT — Eight feet of space separated Sochan Rumthao and the twin-engine plane that slammed into his living room as he cooked dinner for his family Wednesday evening.

Rumthao called it a “miracle” that he and his three children survived the plane crash that killed the two people aboard and heavily damaged his home.

“It frightens me,” he said Thursday. “It tears me apart. It shakes me up even now to think of that.”

Rumthao said that every day his oldest son plays on the computer in that corner of the house at 4907 Brian Hollars Court. But he didn’t Wednesday.

“I don’t think anyone facing that force and the size, I don’t think one can survive,” he said. “But it’s by God’s grace that he has prepared and properly kept us all at the other side.”

The bodies of the pilot and passenger aboard the plane were recovered from the home Wednesday night, said Dennis J. Diaz, an air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board.

The pilot’s name has not been released. The passenger was identified Thursday as Dr. Thomas Littlejohn III of Winston-Salem, a longtime physician and investigator of clinical research trials.

Roger Littlejohn said his brother was returning from a business trip to Wilmington when the chartered plane crashed into the home near Piedmont Triad International Airport about 5:45 p.m.

The plane, a Hawker Beechcraft BE58, was diverted to PTI because of bad weather, said Kathleen Bergen, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman. Conditions were foggy and visibility was low.

The plane initially hit some trees about a quarter mile away, Diaz said. Then it clipped a home before striking Rumthao’s house next door and igniting a fire.

No one on the ground was injured.

NTSB investigators arrived about 11:30 a.m. Thursday to inspect the site. They walked through the woods behind the homes and found debris from the wreck that helped trace the plane’s path. Torn-up sections in some of the trees helped mark the way.

The front of the two-story house appeared mostly untouched. Two window screens from the top floor were torn out and lying on the roof. The back of the house bore the brunt of the crash. When the wreckage was pulled out, it left a gaping hole, scorched around the edges.

Although the main sections of the plane had been hauled away, pieces remained scattered around the yard, on top of the house and in the road on Thursday. Yellow crime scene tape and orange cones in other yards marked more wreckage.

Diaz said the on-scene investigation could be completed by Saturday.

“Right now, we’re here to examine the wreckage and gather perishable information,” he said. “Once that wreckage is removed, that information — it doesn’t exist anymore. So we’re going to try to examine it as thoroughly and efficiently as possible.”

Then the NTSB investigators will return to their office in Ashburn, Va., to follow up, he said. They will examine information such as air traffic control data, the plane’s maintenance and production history, the pilot’s certification history and weather conditions at the time of the crash.

A preliminary report will be available at www.ntsb.gov within five to 10 days, he said.

NTSB will release the full report once the investigation is complete. That could take up to a year, he said.

Until then, Rumthao, his two sons and daughter have to find a new home.

For now, they are staying with MaryJo and Wayne Rumbaugh down the street — neighbors they hadn’t met until after the crash Wednesday.

A second family displaced after the plane clipped the backside of their home is staying at a hotel, according to American Red Cross officials. Property records show that the home is owned by Brian and Kay Yarborough.

Rumthao has received offers of help from the Red Cross and others from the Frazier Downs neighborhood, his church and his workplace.
“I want to thank many people who are praying for us and (are) concerned for us,” he said.

Rumthao’s wife, Dr. Elcy Zimik, a family practice physician, was in Columbus, Ga., at the time of the crash. She is trying to get to High Point as soon as possible, he said.

“When we bought this house, I told my wife, 'I love this house, but the one thing I’m afraid and concerned that a plane may hit this house.’ ” Zimik had laughed.

“But God prepared me for this event,” Rumthao said. “That’s what I realized yesterday.”

He hasn’t been able to retrieve anything from his home, he said, because of the investigation. His kids went to school Thursday and seem to be faring well, but he’s still in shock.

“At this point, we don’t know where we will go,” he said. “We will just take it one step at a time and sit in His grace.”

The Associated Press  contributed to this report.

Contact Dioni L. Wise at 373-7090 or dioni.wise@news-record.com

Contact Jennifer Fernandez at 373-7064 or jennifer.fernandez@news-record.com