Just a random story...

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. 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.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/22852698/detail.html

This is why planes should be equipped with horns.

EastCoastMojo wrote: This is why planes should be equipped with horns.

Normally the propeller is there to chop up victims and the Horns would not be able to gore properly with the spinning blade in the way.

Off to Google to see how much a "Kit Plane" would cost me.

~$300k

MrJoshua wrote: ~$300k

$495K in kit form, $32K for the prop and spinner, $84K for the engine-installation kit.

Engine sold separately, but no pricing listed.

http://www.lancair.com/Main/

Another reason not to waste time jogging.

An autopsy? Don't think they'll need to call in the CSI team for this one.

I seriously lust after the Lancair IVs... They are dammed fast...

heh hehheh heh Fister heh hehhehheh

So how long until the dead jogger's family starts making noices about this being Apple's fault. Sue Apple because they made the iPod that blocked the man's hearing.

I wonder where the prop landed? For $32k I'd shine it up and put it on Ebay. Lucky it fell off, otherwise it would have blood and hair on it.

Suddenly the town has been renamed Hilton Headless.

Wow, JB, priceless. At least the guy went happy. Jogging along on the beach, grooving on some Marley, then he's standing at the gates going" what the berkeley happened?"

What an odd way to die. I guess when your number is up no amount of jogging will save you.

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

Fister is a master of understatement.

When I was in Nassau on the Haiti relief trip, I saw first hand what can happen with a small plane. A Cessna 334 (??) twin engine, push-me-pull-you took off, "developed" a 1/2" hole in the rear prop. That was enough imbalance to take out the main front bearing of the engine, causing oil loss and catastrophic damage to the engine. Fortunately he had another engine and was able to return on an emergency landing. Not able to tell what caused the damage. Pilots comment? "Nothing a $35,000.00 check won't fix". He also swore he would never fly a single engine plane ever again. The episode here could have been similar, without the spare engine. The Lancair is a much higher performance plane, higher stress levels in all componants.

skruffy wrote: What an odd way to die. I guess when your number is up no amount of jogging will save you.

ya, just ask Jim Fixx

Might as well throw another steak on the grill

I laughed, and then I felt really bad.

pinchvalve wrote: "I would have to say it's pretty unusual" Fister is a master of understatement.

With a name like "fister" you know he's good at ignoring the obvious

John Brown wrote: Suddenly the town has been renamed Hilton Headless.

And a groan goes up from the crowd...