Chesapeake-based plane kills jogger

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (WSAV/WAVY) - A plane on its way to Hampton Roads made an emergency landing on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina Monday, killing one person.

While the pilot and passenger in the plane walked away without injury, Beaufort County Sheriff's deputies say a jogger on the beach, who apparently didn't see or hear the plane, was crushed to death. The Beaufort County Coroner's Office identified the victim as 38-year-old Robert Gary Jones, of Woodstock, Ga. Jones was a father of two.

Officials told WSAV that the man was listening to his iPod and running at the time he was hit and likely did not see or hear the plane since the plane had no power at the time it landed.

Authorities also said the plane was on the way from Orlando to Virginia, and had engine trouble. The first sign of trouble was an oil leak said Head Fire Marshall Joheida Fister.

"They started to have an oil leak. There was oil on the windshield. They were going to try to get to the airport, to the Hilton Head Island airport and the propeller left the plane and they had to make an emergency landing," Fister said. The pilot's vision was blocked by the oil on the windshield.

According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records, the plane is a Lancair IV-P, a fixed wing single-engine plane. The plane is registered to a Edward Smith of Chesapeake, Virginia.

"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," said Smith.

An FAA spokesperson told WSAV the plane landed around 6:05 p.m., about halfway into the flight.

Flight records show the plane was en route to Hampton Roads Executive in Chesapeake, Virginia. It left Orlando Executive Airport around 4:51 p.m. Monday, according to FlightAware.com . The plane was scheduled to arrive in Virginia at 7:38 p.m.

FAA and the National Transporatation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating the crash.

The pilot's friend Ray Stevens said he was shocked.  Stevens said he watched pilot Ed Smith pour his heart and soul into building the plane.

"It's a 10 out of 10 in every respect it's the most well built home built plane I've ever seen."

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