Jogger killed by crash-landing plane

A jogger has been killed by a plane as he was running along a beach, US authorities said today.

Pharmaceutical salesman Robert Jones was listening to music on earphones and is thought not to have heard the stricken single-engine plane as it made a crash-landing near the Hilton Head Marriott Resort on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

The 38-year-old, from Atlanta, Georgia, was on a business trip to Hilton Head for GlaxoSmithKline.

The pilot, Edward I Smith, of Chesapeake, Virginia, and a passenger walked away from the crash landing .

He said: “I’ve got a lot of issues going on right now. I’ve got a plane that’s all torn up. And I’ve got a young man that I killed.”

The kit-built four-seater aircraft, a Lancair IV-P, had lost its propeller and had oil smeared across the windshield, making visibility difficult, authorities said. It was “basically gliding” when it hit Mr Jones, said Ed Allen, the coroner for Beaufort County.

The plane took off from Orlando, Florida, on Monday afternoon and was en route to Virginia when it started leaking oil at about 13,000 feet, said Joheida Fister, spokeswoman for Hilton Head Island fire and rescue.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Keith Holloway said no cause has been determined. He said the plane would be inspected in Virginia and investigators would interview the pilot and any witnesses.

The model that killed Mr Jones has a turbine engine, can be built from a kit and can fly up to 370mph, according to the Oregon-based Lancair web site.

The plane “has proven over the years to be very safe, reliable and extremely low in maintenance”, the site says.

Mr Jones was said to be looking forward to getting home to Atlanta for his daughter’s third birthday celebrations.

Pauline Jones, of Dunedin, Florida, said her son was a wonderful husband to his wife Jennifer. The couple also have a five-year-old son.