Private aircraft makes emergency landing on beach

[regulator 0]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,589402,00.html?test=latestnews

HILTON HEAD, S.C. — A 38-year-old father of two was jogging and listening to his iPod when he was hit from behind and killed by a small plane making an emergency landing on the beach, officials said Tuesday.

Robert Gary Jones of Woodstock, Ga., was killed instantly on Hilton Head Island on Monday evening, said Beaufort County Coroner Ed Allen.

The single-engine plane had lost its propeller and the pilot's vision was blocked by oil on the windshield, Allen said.

Jones was married and had two children, the coroner said.

"Apparently he did not see nor hear the plane," Allen said. "The plane was basically gliding."

Hilton Head fire and rescue spokeswoman Joheida Fister said the identities of the pilot and a passenger on the Experimental Lancair IV-P plane were not released. The two were not injured.

The plane started leaking oil at about 13,000 feet and tried originally to make it to Hilton Head Airport, Fister said.

The oil on the windshield blocked the pilot's vision and he told authorities the propeller came off the plane. When he tried to land on the beach near the Hilton Head Marriott Resort and Spa, the plane hit the jogger and came to rest a little farther down the beach, she said.

"I would have to say it's pretty unusual," Fister said.

FAA records show the aircraft was registered to Edward I. Smith of Chesapeake, Va., with a certificate issued in 2004. Smith has a private pilot's license, according to FAA records. Nobody answered early Tuesday at a phone number listed for Smith and a message was not immediately answered.

The plane left Orlando at 4:45 p.m. and was headed for Virginia, Fister said. The four-seater plane has a turbine engine, can be built from a kit and can fly up to 370 mph, according to the Lancair Web site. The IV-P model has a pressurized cabin.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating, Fister said.

An FAA spokeswoman referred inquiries to the NTSB.

[AviationTD 0]

The IV-P model has a pressurized cabin.
***

I don't want to jump into a conclusion. A problem began at 13,000 feet. Even though I have never been in a major emergency, but 13,000 feet sounds like a plenty of attitude to get to a nearby airport

Maybe it is wrong to assume but with that type of plane, a pilot should have at least enough instruments to guide the plane to nearest airport.

[regulator 0]

Well first and foremost, I am not a pilot. However, I was thinking that if this were a new aircraft, couldn't he use the onboard instruments to continue to his destination, or would this aircraft not contain the correct type of instrumentation to 'fly blind'?

[JohnRich 4]

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I don't want to jump into a conclusion. A problem began at 13,000 feet. Even though I have never been in a major emergency, but 13,000 feet sounds like a plenty of attitude to get to a nearby airport

I'm curious about that too. Hilton Head Island isn't that big, so with any kind of glide ratio at all, you could get to just about any point on the island that you wanted.

Attached: Map of the island. The red star is where the Hilton hotel is, in front of which the plane landed. The island's airport is in the top-right corner of the island in the gray-shaded area. The distance between the two is about three miles.

Here's the story from the local island newspaper, with photos:
http://www.islandpacket.com/2010/03/16/1174196/ga-man-running-on-beach-was-killed.html

[JohnRich 4]

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Well first and foremost, I am not a pilot. However, I was thinking that if this were a new aircraft, couldn't he use the onboard instruments to continue to his destination, or would this aircraft not contain the correct type of instrumentation to 'fly blind'?

Even if he did have those kind of instruments, that would be a bad idea. If your windshield is covered in oil, you need to get on the ground at the first available opportunity. Not just because you're blind, but because your engine is probably going to be short on oil.

The pilot will probably get sued by the family of the jogger...

[Calvin19 0]

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Well first and foremost, I am not a pilot. However, I was thinking that if this were a new aircraft, couldn't he use the onboard instruments to continue to his destination, or would this aircraft not contain the correct type of instrumentation to 'fly blind'?

not on the spot like that, for a small plane. glide is usually less than 10/1. crappy situation for the dude on the beach, but not the pilots fault unless he missed something in the preflight that could have stopped them from flying.

[regulator 0]

That's a really good point...if there's enough oil pouring out the engine, then its probably going to crater soon than later. He probably chose the best plan of action for what he was dealing with. Thanks John.

[Calvin19 0]

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Quote

Well first and foremost, I am not a pilot. However, I was thinking that if this were a new aircraft, couldn't he use the onboard instruments to continue to his destination, or would this aircraft not contain the correct type of instrumentation to 'fly blind'?

Even if he did have those kind of instruments, that would be a bad idea. If your windshield is covered in oil, you need to get on the ground at the first available opportunity. Not just because you're blind, but because your engine is probably going to be short on oil.

report said they lost the propeller. I would assume it was an engine out situation.

[skyrider 0]

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I don't want to jump into a conclusion. A problem began at 13,000 feet. Even though I have never been in a major emergency, but 13,000 feet sounds like a plenty of attitude to get to a nearby airport

I'm curious about that too. Hilton Head Island isn't that big, so with any kind of glide ratio at all, you could get to just about any point on the island that you wanted.

Attached: Map of the island. The red star is where the Hilton hotel is, in front of which the plane landed. The island's airport is in the top-right corner of the island in the gray-shaded area. The distance between the two is about three miles.

Much like a parachute malfunction, Only that one person can make the choices, many may call them wrong, but they had to choose something...

It is up to the rest of us to learn from how it worked!

[regulator 0]

You know it might be just me, but when I looked at the local article John posted, I was looking at the windshield of the aircraft, and while I can only see perhaps 20% of it from the side, it didn't appear to have oil all over it. Of course if he came in to land and ran into saltwater, perhaps some water being splashed over the windshield could have washed some of the oil away.

[Bolas 5]

How loud does your music have to be and how into your run do you have to be to not see, feel, and or hear a plane behind you, engine or no engine?

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[hcsvader 1]

Surprisingly enough this isn't the first time this has happened.

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Pedestrian,_three_others_killed_in_helicopter_crash_in_British_Columbia

Have you seen my pants?
it"s a rough life, Livin' the dream
>:)

[Calvin19 0]

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How loud does your music have to be and how into your run do you have to be to not see, feel, and or hear a plane behind you, engine or no engine?

at most it would make a loud whistle. I have landed several single engine airplanes and been around several that have intentionally been landed with the engine off and propeller stopped (stopping the prop is somewhat difficult on some planes, it wants to windmill)

-SPACE-

[theonlyski 8]

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How loud does your music have to be and how into your run do you have to be to not see, feel, and or hear a plane behind you, engine or no engine?

Not very. I have to be careful about when I go on road runs with and even without my iPod. Once you get into a rythm you just keep it up. The danger about running with music is you cant hear anything, and I wouldnt think a plane flying in dead would make all that much noise at all.

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

[billvon 3,071]

> Not just because you're blind, but because your engine is probably
>going to be short on oil.

True, but without a propeller, the level of oil in the engine really isn't going to affect power production.

[riggerrob 643]

" ... couldn't he use the onboard instruments to continue to his destination, ... to 'fly blind'?

[JohnMitchell 16]

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How loud does your music have to be and how into your run do you have to be to not see, feel, and or hear a plane behind you, engine or no engine?

Not very. Planes gliding in are quieter than cars driving down the street. Except for all the screaming and crying inside.

[regulator 0]

Do any of you think that when the aircraft impacted the jogger, it diverted the aircraft into the water? Or would impacting a human not cause enough resistance to force the plane into the water?

[billvon 3,071]

>How loud does your music have to be and how into your run do you have
>to be to not see, feel, and or hear a plane behind you, engine or no
>engine?

Not very loud. Aircraft gliding at landing speeds (~75mph for this aircraft) are pretty quiet. Landing Cessna 152's are quieter than swoopers, even with the engine idling.

[theonlyski 8]

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Do any of you think that when the aircraft impacted the jogger, it diverted the aircraft into the water? Or would impacting a human not cause enough resistance to force the plane into the water?

I wouldnt think so, the person would have to have a solid base in order to divert the momentum of the plane thats hitting him.

I would figure that he would just get hit, run over and the plane keep on trucking.

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

[skyrider 0]

Yep, simply a thud, no change of course!

[RPC1117 0]

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Do any of you think that when the aircraft impacted the jogger, it diverted the aircraft into the water? Or would impacting a human not cause enough resistance to force the plane into the water?

I grew up on Hilton Head. The amount of beach at high tide and low tide is very drastic on the ocean side of the island. Hilton Head get 6 - 6.5 ft tide swings...however the slope on the beach on the ocean side is very gradual, so you could have 200 - 250 yard wide beach at low tide and only 10 feet at high tide.

I'm guessing that the pictures shown in the Island Packet were taken at high tide. When the accident happened the tide was coming in, but was about 2.5 hours till high tide

[regulator 0]

I'm sure you're right...I only pondered the situation because the aircraft seemed rather on the small side.

[akjmpplt 0]

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With an obscured runway, a long, wide, firm beach is a far better option for a forced landing, because it requires less precise adjustment of glide slope and you can see enough out the side windows.

You've never landed an airplane have you.

I'd go for the runway....you can be sure of no obstacles on or near the runway to hit. Landing on a beach is risky, even for aircraft equipped to land on beaches flown by people with experience doing it.

SmugMug

[DiverMike 5]

+1

For the same reason I jump off a perfectly good diving board.