Plane Kills Jogger in S.C. Beach Emergency Landing

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — 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 the beach, officials said Tuesday.

Robert Gary Jones of Woodstock, Ga., died instantly Monday evening 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 Edward I. Smith of Chesapeake, Va.

Smith was on the beach with his plane Tuesday and confirmed he was the pilot. He said he didn't want to talk about the crash and offered few details.

"I've got a lot of issues going on right now. I've got a plane that's all torn up. And I've got a young man that I killed," he said.

Authorities said there was also a passenger on board but did not identify him or her.

The plane started leaking oil at about 13,000 feet and tried originally to make it to Hilton Head Airport, said fire and rescue spokeswoman Joheida Fister.

The oil on the windshield blocked Smith's vision and he told authorities the propeller came off. When he tried to land on the beach near the Hilton Head Marriott Resort and Spa, the plane hit Jones and came to rest a little farther down the beach, Fister said.

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.

Yellow crime scene tape stretched from the water to the dunes to keep people away. Tourists walked up to the tape, gawking and snapping pictures. Other than the missing propeller, the plane appeared undamaged.

The plane left Orlando, at 4:45 p.m. and was headed for Virginia, Fister said. The four-seater plane has a turbine engine, can be built from a kit and can fly up to 370 mph, according to the Lancair website. The IV-P model has a pressurized cabin.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating, Fister said.

An FAA spokeswoman referred inquiries to the NTSB.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

From USA Today

Woman Killed by 6 Train Retrieving Dropped Bag

Yesterday afternoon, a woman was fatally struck by a northbound 6 train at the 77th Street and Lexington Avenue station in Manhattan. Police now say that 48-year-old Rosemary Mankof had jumped into the tracks to pick up her fallen bag. Witnesses were yelling at her to lie on on the track bed, but, the NY Times reports, "Panicked, the woman scrambled toward the platform and struggled to climb up, but was crushed as the train came charging into the station."

One witness told the Daily News, "She tried to climb underneath the platform and then she tried to climb up. I was yelling, 'Get down on the tracks, get down on the tracks!' but she just stood there." Another witness thought Mankof seemed "too scared" to climb up. According to the Daily News, "At the last instant, Mankof tried to press herself against the platform wall so the train would pass by her - but instead it crushed her between the first car and the wall."

The train's motorman had sounded his horn repeatedly—and also engaged the emergency brake. A passenger aboard the train, Glena Farr, said to the Times, "We felt a horrible thud. It was horrible. I’ve never felt anything like it, that terrible boom." The Post says, "It was chaos on the platform as straphangers shrieked with horror upon seeing the shredded parts of her body."

The police are investigating but do not suspect any criminality—they believe Mankof was simply trying to get her bag, which, the News reports, "contained toiletries and gym wear, but nothing of significant value."

That's Why They Call Them KILLER Whales

After the massive whale was finally trapped last week, it refused to unclench its teeth and let go of Dawn Brancheau, according to the investigative reports released by the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Its jaws were eventually pried open.

"The whale would not let us have her," another trainer, Jodie Ann Tintle, told investigators after the Wednesday attack.

Investigators have said that the 40-year-old trainer died from multiple traumatic injuries and drowning.

In the new investigative reports, Brancheau's co-workers describe the swiftness of the attack and the furious response that came after alarms sounded around the pool. Employees who were at other pools, behind computers or emptying coolers of fish rushed to the scene.

The reports released Monday include the first extensive accounts from employees who witnessed the attacks at the park in Orlando.

via NY Daily News

Joan Rivers Date Dies at Le Cirque, she jokes

Today, on a particularly amusing episode of the Howard Stern show, Joan Riversrevealed that a man she had been dating for five weeks dropped dead during dinner at Le Cirque seven months ago. Rivers said her date suddenly went quiet, with his eyes wide open, sitting upright on the banquette, and he just died. Jokes that she made about the incident: 1) Her salmon dish was ruined as a result, 2) She paid for the meal by reaching into the dead man's wallet and handing over his AMEX, 3) At least left a 20% tip even though he didn't finish his meal, 4) He must've kicked the bucket after seeing her in the bright light.

His death was not made public at the restaurant and Rivers, the management, and paramedics told patrons that he would be fine so as to not, you know, totally freak them out. Also it should be noted, her date was elderly, so the death was not, as far as she knows, food related. Can't tell Joan's condition from the photo, nothing moves on her face anymore.

via Eater

Mover Falls Down Elevator Shaft

MOUNT HOPE (WABC) -- A deadly fall down an elevator shaft in the Bronx.

A couple was moving into a new apartment -- when a man stepped onto an elevator that wasn't there.

Police say 35-year-old Joseph Ryan and his wife were moving into the building. They were apparently carrying a matress into the elevator.

Eyewitness is told the elevator doors opened, but the elevator was not there. Ryan, unaware of this, backed into the elevator without looking and he fell.

EMS rushed him to the hospital but he was pronounced dead a little after 1 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Police are now investigating.

via ABC Eyewitness News

Car Thief Killed by Owner

A Queens man trying to steal his neighbor’s car was strangled by the neighbor on Saturday night after being caught in the act, the police said on Sunday.

The police responded to a call reporting the attempted theft, in front of 188-02 Mangin Avenue in St. Albans, around 10 p.m. When officers arrived at the scene, the car owner — identified by a law enforcement official as Daillard Paris, 28 — had the would-be thief, Yaosse Agbokou, 50, in a head lock and was punching him, the police said.

Mr. Agbokou became unconscious while being arrested, the police said, and was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The cause of death was compression of the neck, according to a spokeswoman for the city’s medical examiner’s office.

from The New York Times

L.I. Teen Falls into Cesspool

A worker at a Smithtown Dunkin' Donuts died yesterday after falling into an eight-foot deep cesspool behind the store. Amiri Zeqiri, 17, had been taking out the garbage past 9 p.m. when he fell through what was described as an "open manhole" by Newsday (subscription required).

Zeqiri's 14-year-old cousin went looking for him when he did return. Newsday reports, "Police said the cousin, realizing he could not get Zeqiri out of the cesspool, ran to a nearby store for help. When he returned, police said, Zeqiri was no longer visible." And according to WABC 7, "About 75 police and firefighters responded to the scene and pulled Zeqiri out and rushed him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead."

The police say there usually was a manhole cover over the cesspool opening. There have been various cesspool deaths and rescues in recent years.

via Gothamist