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A dad was killed in a freak accident when a plane crashed on top of him as he jogged along a beach.

Robert Jones, 38, was struck from behind by pilot Edward Smith after he got into difficulties at 3,000ft and oil began spraying on to his windscreen.

The propeller then fell off and the single-engined plane began falling from the sky.

Aiming the craft at the nearby beach, Mr Smith had no vision ahead of him and the runner was unable to hear the plane because its engine had stalled and he was listening to his iPod.

Witness Patrick Murphy, boss of a beachside bar, said: “It was awful. It was obvious the engine had gone as there was no sound – it was like a glider.”

Firefighter Joheida Fister added: “The pilot and his passenger were really shaken. I would have to say that it was a very unusual incident.”

Mr Smith had tried to make it to the nearby Hilton Head airport in South Carolina, America.

But when his windscreen became smeared and he lost power he had no choice but to crash-land.

Mr Jones of Woodstock, Georgia, had two children. The name of the plane passenger has not been released. Aviation experts are investigating the cause of Monday evening’s crash.

The 370mph four-seat Experimental Lancair IV-P can be built from a kit. It was yesterday attached to an anchor so the tide would not pull it out to sea.

