Pilot: Loud bang, engine failure before Hilton Head plane crash that killed beach jogger

Pilot: Bang before plane hit, killed SC beachgoer

WASHINGTON — The pilot of a plane that struck and killed a 38-year-old jogger on a South Carolina beach says he heard a loud bang before the engine failed and he was forced to make an emergency landing.

A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board released Saturday says that while the aircraft was at 13,000 feet, the pilot noticed the instrument panel was vibrating and oil began to cover the windshield before the bang.

The engine stopped and the pilot tried to land.

Pharmaceutical salesman Robert Gary Jones of Woodstock, Ga., was listening to his iPod while jogging on a Hilton Head beach. He was killed when the plane hit him from behind on March 15.

Pilot Edward I. Smith of Chesapeake, Va., and a passenger walked away from the crash landing.

(This version CORRECTS APNewsNow. corrects that report released Saturday)