The co-pilot of a small cargo plane in North Carolina reportedly jumped out of the aircraft before the other pilot successfully made an emergency landing, authorities said.
That pilot, who is unnamed, told authorities that Charles Hew Crooks, 23, leaped from the twin-engine CASA CN-212 Aviocar on Friday while the aircraft was about 3,500 feet above ground. The two men were the only ones aboard the 10-person plane, which landed at Raleigh-Durham International Airport after an unsuccessful attempt in Raeford, located about 80 miles away. In a 40-minute recording released by authorities, which features no hints of Crooks jumping, the unnamed pilot could be heard requesting assistance from air traffic control.
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“Emergency, we’ve lost our right wheel, we’d like to proceed to Raleigh and make a landing at Raleigh,” the pilot said.
“How do you intend to land at Raleigh-Durham?” air traffic control asked, to which the pilot responded: “Get as slow as we can. … I guess we’re going to put it on the belly.”
“We were attempting to land,” he said, explaining how they lost the wheel. “We made contact with the ground and had a hard landing and decided to go around, and at that point, we lost the wheel.”
The man added: “We have two persons on board. We have enough fuel on board that will last us for the next four hours.”
Crooks was not wearing a parachute when he jumped. His remains were recovered in a Fuquay-Varina neighborhood, discovered by a resident who told investigating officers they heard a thud-like noise behind their property.
Local authorities were originally unclear if Crooks had jumped or fallen out of the plane. The unnamed pilot told Wake County investigators that Crooks leaped from the aircraft before their emergency landing attempt, unsuccessfully aiming toward a body of water.
After making the successful landing in Raleigh, the pilot was taken to a nearby hospital and treated for minor injuries. He was released later that day.
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The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the incident.
Crooks was a 2020 graduate of Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. His Instagram features a photo of him on an aircraft with the caption: “I’m just here to fly the planes.”
