Charleston wrongful death lawyers want you to be aware of a fatal plane crash that occurred on Hilton Head Beach, Monday, March 15, 2010. Killed in the single- engine plane crash was not the pilot or passenger, but a beachgoer.
The Experimental Lancair IV-P single-engine plane was traveling from Orlando to Virginia when the pilot discovered an oil leak. The pilot knew that an emergency landing was certain and tried to make it to the closest airport, the Savannah/Hilton Head Airport. After the front propeller fell off the plane during flight the pilot decided he would have to land the plane on the beach in order to avoid serious injury civilians and homes. The plane made an emergency landing on the beach at Palmetto Dunes.
The victim was a 38-year old man from Woodstock, Georgia, who was running on the beach when then plane was forced to make the landing. He was listening to his iPod and was unable to hear the plane approaching. The pilot told authorities that he could not see out of the windshield because it had been splattered with oil and no longer had control of the plane due to the broken propeller.
After some investigation authorities said that the victim may not have even heard the plane if he was not wearing his iPod because the type of plane is a model that is extremely quiet. The pilot and a passenger both survived the crash. Media outlets reported that the runner was a salesman for GlaxoSmithKline and was in Hilton Head Island for business and is survived by his wife and two children.
Hilton Head authorities have turned the investigation over to the National Traffic and Safety Administration and the FAA for further review.
Source: WTOC Savannah, Georgia- “Beachgoer killed in plane crash on Hilton Head.” March 16, 2010.
