Update on Emergency Landing on Hilton Head Island

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- The investigation continues after a plane made an emergency landing on a Hilton Head beach Monday, killing a beachgoer. A spokesperson with the National Transportation Safety Board tells says the plane has been brought to Virginia for further analysis. The spokesperson added a report from that investigation is expected to be released as early as next week.

While the investigations will answer a lot of questions, there are others that may likely remain just that- questions. For example, how did the jogger not hear or see anything coming his way? Why would oil leak on the windshield anyway?

NEWS 3’s Holly Bounds took those questions to a certified flight instructor on Hilton Head to get his take.

It was in the 60's that Hilton Head's certified flight instructor Chuck Copley started flying. But aviation's been in his blood a lot longer. He followed his father's footsteps to become a pilot.
And of all those times in the cockpit, he's never had oil leak on the windscreen. But, it happens.

"You just can't prevent it. One in a million,” Copley said.

That's what folks say about the odds of the ordeal that happened Monday afternoon. The reason to land early: oil leaking on the windscreen.

"The oil leak can come out of the prop hub--it can come out of a piston- and start leaking up through here,” Copley explained.

And the reason not making it to Hilton Head Airport: a broken propeller.

"I don't know why...I’ve never heard of a propeller coming off before and I've been flying since 1968,” Copley said.

The catastrophe forced the pilot to think fast and land on the water.

"Water has its own hazards. An emergency landing on any surface that you weren't trained to be on, you become a test pilot,” Copley said.

And the tragedy of it all - the death of a beachgoer - said to be listening to music, likely not hearing a thing.

"And as the airplane came down if the engine is not running, there's very little noise. It's just kind of a whistle,” Copley said.

While this is certainly one of those stories that makes you think, Copley says folks should be reminded how rare it is for someone on the ground to be struck by