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faa Update: Victim identified as a Georgia man
The plane experienced engine trouble over the water about an hour and a half after leaving Orlando Executive Airport in Florida, bound for Norfolk, Va. The aircraft was flying at about 13,000 feet when air traffic controllers told the pilot to land at Hilton Head Airport.
But before the male pilot and his male passenger reached the island, oil began to leak onto the windshield, blocking their vision, said Joheida Fister, Fire and Rescue Division spokeswoman.
Then, the plane's propeller came off. The men decided to make an emergency landing on the beach, she said.
"They were really shook up," Fister said.
The men were not injured, but a man walking or jogging on the beach apparently was hit by the plane and died, said Fister, who did not know the man's identity. The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, which was at the scene, referred questions about the deceased man to Coroner Ed Allen. Attempts to reach him Monday night were unsuccessful.
No other injuries were reported.
The plane -- a fixed wing Lancair IV-P -- is registered to Edward Smith of Chesapeake, Va., according to the Federal Aviation Administration, but it is not clear if he was aboard the plane Monday. A woman who answered the phone of an Edward Smith in Chesapeake refused to answer questions before hanging up.
The men were taken from the scene to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, and arrangements were being made for them to stay in the area to speak to investigators, Fister said.
Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the FAA's Atlanta regional office, said the pilot reported a problem with the aircraft to an air traffic facility in Hilliard, Fla. Air traffic controllers handed the pilot off to the Marine Corps Approach Control Center in Beaufort, where he was directed to land at Hilton Head Airport, according to Bergen.
The landing occurred north of the Hilton Head Marriott Resort and Spa at Palmetto Dunes near Armada Street, about three miles from the island's airport.
Flight records show the plane left Orlando Executive Airport at 4:45 p.m. and was to arrive at Hampton Roads Executive Airport at 7:38 p.m. The plane flew from Hampton Roads to Orlando Executive early this morning, departing at 6:55 a.m. and arriving in Florida at about 9:30 a.m.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA were expected to arrive at the scene at about 11 p.m. Monday. The NTSB will lead the investigation and determine the probable cause of the crash, Bergen said.
Patrick Murphy, manager of the Dunes House, a beachside bar and restaurant, was working at the time of the crash.
"It was obvious that the engine had gone out because there was no sound -- it was like a glider," he said. "It was awful. A bunch of us called 911, and the fire department was here within five minutes."
