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-Obits-
The laws of probability had it in for this poor guy
2010-03-16
A single-engine plane killed a jogger yesterday as it made an emergency landing on a beach.

The plane had been experiencing engine trouble for over an hour as it flew up the coast from Florida towards Virginia in the U.S. It was directed to land at Hilton Head Airport in South Carolina but at 13,000ft oil began to leak on the windshield blocking the view of the pilot and his passenger.

Then the propeller came off and the pilot decided to make an emergency landing on the beach near the Hilton Head Marriott Resort and Spa. It was at this point that the Experimental Lancair IV-P plane hit the beachgoer who was either jogging or walking. The plane came to rest a little farther down the beach....
Posted by:Mike

#6  Oil leaks could be anything on an engine. The Lancair is a high performance pressurized plane, single engine that is in the 300 kt speed range. It is a very impressive kit built plane. Its engine is a Continental TSIO-550, which is a 6-cyl fuel injected and turbocharged gasoline engine, air cooled. This engine is a fairly common one, IIRC, used in the Cessna 402 twin and others. It has a constant speed prop and governor system, hydraulically run through the crankshaft on engine oil.

There may be a good chance that the propeller governing system developed a seal leak and oil started spraying the windshield. Then there was a major failure in the propeller hub and a prop blade came off. There are usually 3 props on an engine like that. I would think that a prop failure like that would require an immediate engine stop, or the unbalance would have the engine tear itself off the engine mounts. A loss of an engine would screw up the balance of the plane and you could not glide it in. You would fall like a leaf.

Too bad the pilot did not ditch the plane in the sea. Flying the coast like that, I would be wearing a life jacket and would ditch it to avoid hitting someone. Sad deal. Very sad.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2010-03-16 20:15  

#5  That's it, I'm done. No more jogging along the Redneck Riviera for me.
Posted by: Besoeker   2010-03-16 20:05  

#4  Then the propeller came off Just how the heck does a propellor come off? It must be a very bad thing. Whata ya say AP?
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2010-03-16 19:32  

#3  sometimes running to catch your plane can be dangerous!

/runs for my room
Posted by: Frank G   2010-03-16 19:17  

#2  don't guess that excercise program worked out too good for the poor guy
Posted by: chris   2010-03-16 18:22  

#1  As flies to wanton boys are we to th' gods...
They kill us for their sport.
Posted by: William Shakespeare   2010-03-16 17:10  

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