The pilot aborted the plan and was hunting for somewhere safe to land when he spotted the long stretch of sand along Palmetto Dunes. But oil began pouring out of the plane, splattering the windshield and blocking the pilot's vision.
As the plane came in to land on the coastline, it struck and killed the beachgoer. The names of the man killed, the pilot and his male passenger have not been released following the incident, which took place late on Monday.
Both survivors were taken to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office ahead of the investigation into the crash. The plane - an Experimental Lancair IV-P - had been travelling from Orlando Executive airport in Florida, bound for Norfolk, Virginia.
4 comments:
There's another version of this story on the Daily Heil website which says the pilot was experiencing trouble for over an hour before the accident happened. What I want to know is why he wasn't looking for a landing spot (or indeed returning to the departure airfield) at the first sign of trouble before the engine gave up completely.
Well done to the pilot for landing his aircraft safely and keeping his passenger and himself alive, but I do feel sorry for the jogger. Wrong place at the wrong time. I've often thought light aircraft should have a horn (similar to a car horn) for a number of reasons, one of which being to warn people on the ground that your engine has died as they would have practically zero chance of hearing the approaching plane, especially if they've got headphones on.
As a pilot myself, I ahould say that we are trained to land at the first sign of trouble. If this person indeed flew on for an hour with trouble, he is at fault. As to how he managed to get down safely, only the Lord can help when this stuff happens. Bless the Jogger. at least he was not texting while jogging.
Hi Gizz, I'm a pilot as well, that's why I wondered why he kept going, if indeed he did - the DM isn't exactly known for fact checking! If it really was an experimental aircraft, then that's even more reason not to plough on with a problem.
talk about being in the right place at the wrong time
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