Emergency landing kills jogger

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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 a beach, officials said.

Robert Gary Jones of Woodstock, Georgia, died instantly Monday evening (Tuesday, NZT) when he was hit by the single-engine plane, which had lost its propeller, said Beaufort County Coroner Ed Allen. The pilot's vision was blocked by oil on the windshield.

Jones apparently did not see or hear the plane, which was "basically gliding", the coroner said.

FAA records show the Experimental Lancair IV-P plane was registered to a Virginia man. He was on the beach with his plane Tuesday and confirmed he was the pilot, but declined to talk about the crash on the advice of his attorney.

The man and his passenger were not hurt.

The plane was still on the beach Tuesday afternoon. Waves lapped against it and the tail was attached to an anchor with a rope so the tide wouldn't pull it out to sea. The waves had washed away any sign of it skidding across the sand.

The four-seater plane has a turbine engine, can be built from a kit and can fly up to nearly 600kmh, according to the Lancair Web site. The IV-P model has a pressurised cabin.

- AP