U.S. jogger killed after plane crash-lands on top of him as he runs on the beach

By MAIL FOREIGN SERVICE
Updated:


A single-engine plane killed a jogger yesterday as it made an emergency landing on a beach.

The plane had been experiencing engine trouble for over an hour as it flew up the coast from Florida towards Virginia in the U.S.

It was directed to land at Hilton Head Airport in South Carolina but at 13,000ft oil began to leak on the windshield blocking the view of the pilot and his passenger.

A tow boat floats offshore from the scene where a small plane crash-landed on the beach of Palmetto Dunes along Hilton Head, South Carolina, killing a man

A tow boat floats offshore from the scene where a small plane crash-landed on the beach of Palmetto Dunes along Hilton Head, South Carolina, killing a man

A tow boat floats offshore from the scene where a small plane crash-landed on the beach of Palmetto Dunes along Hilton Head, South Carolina, killing a man


intended route

Then the propeller came off and the pilot decided to make an emergency landing on the beach near the Hilton Head Marriott Resort and Spa.

It was at this point that the Experimental Lancair IV-P plane hit the beachgoer who was either jogging or walking.

The plane came to rest a little farther down the beach.

Patrick Murphy, manager of the Dunes House, a beachside bar and restaurant, told South Carolina's The State paper he witnessed the crash.

'It was obvious that the engine had gone out because there was no sound - it was like a glider,' he said. 'It was awful. A bunch of us called 911, and the fire department was here within five minutes.'

The names of the man killed, as well as the pilot and passenger on the plane have not been released.

'They [the pilot and his companion] were really shook up,' said Joheida Fister, of the Hilton Head Fire and Rescue Division.

'I would have to say it's pretty unusual.'

The plane left Orlando at 4.45pm and was headed for Virginia. It crashed just after 6pm on Monday.

The four-seater plane has a turbine engine and can be built from a kit. It can fly up to 370mph (595kph), according to the Lancair website.

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