A single-engine, banner-towing plane on its way to the beaches crashed and burned shortly after taking off Saturday, killing the pilot, officials said. Jack Beale took off around 11 a.m. from the landing strip at Sky Signs' banner-plane airfield near Conway, just northwest of this resort, when the plane's engine apparently stalled and the plane crashed, officials said. The 63-year-old Conway man had just picked up a new advertising banner, which he was going to tow over the beachfront. He had no passengers. The plane exploded on impact, and the flames had virtually burned out when firefighters arrived, said Charlie Brown of the Horry County Volunteer Fire Department. Beale had been flying for Sky Signs for about three months, said company co-owner Mike Marion. Federal Aviation Administration officials from Atlanta were on their way to the crash site to investigate the accident.
