Beachgoer killed in plane crash on Hilton Head

Posted: Updated:

(Source: Stephen Walls CNN iReport)

(Source: Robert Jarasek of Mequon, Wisconsin)

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC (WTOC) - Authorities on Hilton Head Island are investigating a single-engine plane crash that killed one person Monday evening.

The crash happened around 6pm Monday when an Experimental Lancair IV-P plane made an emergency landing on the beach at Palmetto Dunes on Hilton Head.

The pilot told Hilton Head Island firefighters he was flying from Orlando to Virginia when oil began to leak out of the plane and splash onto the windshield.

While trying to make it to the Hilton Head Island Airport to land, the pilot said the propeller fell off the plane, forcing him to make an emergency landing on the beach.

Officials say a beachgoer, 38-year-old Robert Gary Jones of Woodstock, Georgia, was listening to an iPod and didn't hear or see the plane coming.

Jones was hit by the plane from behind before the plane came to a stop in the ocean just off the beach.

Jones was killed in the crash. Both the pilot and a passenger escaped without injury. The Beaufort County coroner says Jones was married and had two children.

On Tuesday, the coroner's office said the type of plane that hit Jones was so quiet, he may not have heard the plane even if he wasn't wearing headphones.

Officials say Jones was on Hilton Head for business. He was a salesman for the drug company GlaxoSmithKline.

Hilton Head Island Fire Rescue, the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, the Beaufort County Coroner's Office and Beaufort County Emergency Management all responded Monday.

A portion of the Palmetto Dunes beach is closed off as crews work to remove the plane from the water. Heavy equipment was brought in to lift the plane and firefighters are assisting.

The investigation is being turned over to the National Traffic Safety Board and the FAA.