More detail on this person: Close calls, tragic
losses in Miss. plane crash
By HOLBROOK MOHR and EMILY WAGSTER
PETTUS, Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Roger Latham had
considered taking a short flight Tuesday night in
his small plane with his flying instructor and a
couple of other experienced pilots to attend a
conference on flight safety held by the Federal
Aviation Administration.
At the last minute, he decided to go deer hunting
instead.
Shortly after taking off, the single-engine Piper
PA-32 began sputtering and crashed into a home in
a west Jackson neighborhood, killing all three
aboard and injuring a woman inside the home.
Firefighters, police officers and federal
investigators were on the scene Wednesday. Some
of them held up a large tarp near the back of the
coroner's SUV to block the view as they brought
body bags out of the house.
Among the victims was Latham's flight instructor,
John Edward Tilton Jr., who was a decorated
helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War and had
served in numerous roles with the Civil Air
Patrol, reaching the rank of colonel and serving
as a board member at one time. He was 65.
"He was one of the finest Christian men I knew,"
Latham said at the scene Tuesday night. "We had
three great men who lost their lives," he added.
"I just want to wake up in a while and say, `This
didn't happen.'"
Latham said his plane had been parked in a hangar
for a month and they wanted to take it out for a
short flight before he flew it to Gulf Shores,
Ala., for Thanksgiving. Latham said he had owned
the plane for 2 1/2 years and described it as
being in mint condition.
The plane had just taken off from Hawkins Field
Airport in Jackson when a witness said a Jackson
police officer said it began "spitting and
sputtering."
One of the aviators asked for permission to return
to the airport, but just minutes later the plane
went down. It crashed through trees before
slamming into a house that quickly caught fire,
sending long flames and black smoke through the
neighborhood of modest single-family homes
surrounded by magnolia and oak trees.
"I'm sure John was doing everything he possibly
could to save the lives on board," Latham said.
The other two men aboard were William C. Young
and David Williams, said Carlton Summer,
Mississippi wing commander for the Civil Air
Patrol. All three victims were certified flight
instructors and CAP pilots, though they were not
on official business for the flight.
Williams, 69, was a former Air Force F-101 fighter
pilot and served in leadership roles with the
Civil Air Patrol with the rank of lieutenant
colonel.
Young, 78, had joined the Civil Air Patrol in May
2011. He was a major in CAP.
On the ground, Loretta Jamison was home alone
while her husband was at work. Her nephew, Milton
Miller, said she was in the bedroom getting some
clothes together when the plane crashed. She
suffered second-degree burns on her hands.
Jamar Funchess, a 20-year-old student at Jackson
State University, lives two doors down and said he
was a longtime neighbor and good friends with
Jamison's son.
He ran outside after hearing a loud crashing noise
and saw Jamison trying to climb out of her bedroom
window. He ran over, grabbed her and pulled her
out. He said she was not screaming or crying and
seemed to be in shock.
"I pulled her out," he recalled. "She said `Oh my
god, somebody's screaming for help. She tried to
go back, but I stopped her."
Then the fire got stronger and faster. "This
happens on TV, not in Jackson, Mississippi," he
said.
Funchess said Jamison's son was at a nearby
restaurant when he heard a plane crashed into his
house. He was so frantic that he ran home and left
his car at the restaurant.
Jamison's husband, Roosevelt, was pacing near the
home Wednesday and had some dogs loaded into
his truck. He said his wife was doing "OK," but
declined to answer other questions, saying he was
searching for answers himself. His wife was being
treated at the University of Mississippi Medical
Center.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators
arrived at the scene Wednesday. A preliminary
report on the crash is expected in 10 days.
Board investigator Paul Cox said someone in the
plane reported engine trouble before the crash,
but the nature of the problem wasn't clear.
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This information was last updated 06/18/2012
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