Marlowe Treit could hardly believe his eyes when the propellor from the Cessna aeroplane mangled the driver’s side of the black 1985 Lamborghini in the bizarre accident.

Treit has now launched a lawsuit against the U.S. government because he has not been compensated for the damage to the prized car that he bought himself as a 60th birthday present in 1998.

He is accusing the pilots of negligence and seeking more than £50,000 in damages.

Two FBI agents, John Jeffries and Robert Brockmeyer, were co-piloting the plane on a “familiarisation flight,” according to an official report on the incident.

One of the agents wrote in another report that the plane was “moving down the taxiway about to enter our hangar area, moving at about a fast walk and crossing a narrow inner taxiway perpendicular to us when the aircraft crunched to a sudden stop.”

The unidentified agent added: “Out the left side window of the aircraft I saw a small black sports car dart from under the prop moving to my left, gushing fluid.”

Treit, a licensed pilot who lives in Aurora and owns a business at the airport, claims he had the right of way and that the pilot should have seen him.

But the transportation safety board determined that Treit and the agents shared blame for the wreck. Investigators said both failed “to maintain an adequate visual lookout,” which contributed to the wreck.

Last year, the 165-pound champion won his sixth straight Yellow Mustard Belt at the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest by devouring a then-world record 53 3/4 frankfurters in 12 minutes.

A California man broke the record earlier this month by chomping down more than 59 franks in 12 minutes.

But earlier this week, Kobayashi, 29, said on his Web site blog that his “jaw has abandoned the frontline” during his training for this year’s July 4 event.

“Already I can’t open my jaws more than just a little bit,” he wrote. “There’s no pain only if I open my mouth about enough for one finger. More than that is painful and I can’t open it.”

A specialist diagnosed him with arthritis of the jaw, he wrote.

“To tell the truth, I’m desperate about healing completely before the July 4 contest,” he said, adding that he had begun receiving treatment at a hospital and from a chiropractor.

On Tuesday, his United Food Fighters Organization said on its Web site that Kobayashi has found a doctor he can trust and was “creating an environment in which he can dedicate himself to healing.”

The man was driving the woman on Germany’s autobahn near the northern city of Luebeck when he suddenly died, and the car careened into a guard rail.

The woman, who was in the front passenger seat, didn’t panic, but instead reached across and yanked the car out of gear, then pulled the hand brake.

The car then slowed to a stop nearly 300 yards farther along the highway. She was unharmed.

The store clerk called 911 around 3:15 p.m. to report the robbery of about $200 in cash, according to Kiel Police Chief Dave Funkhouser. The clerk, who was uninjured, provided descriptions of the suspect and his vehicle, including its license plate, police said.

Officers tracked the man’s vehicle to the nearby tavern, where the suspect was sitting at the bar.

The man, who is from New Holstein, was being held Saturday night at the Manitowoc County Jail.