RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A 911 call from air traffic controllers suggests a co-pilot may have jumped from a damaged plane before the other pilot made an emergency landing in North Carolina, according to a recording of the call released Tuesday.
It’s not clear exactly how or why 23-year-old Charles Hugh Crooks got off the small cargo plane Friday afternoon about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Raleigh-Durham International Airport. He did not have a parachute, and his body was found in a backyard in Fuquay-Varina.
Two unnamed Federal Aviation Administration officials can be heard telling a 911 dispatcher that the plane was headed for the airport. The pilot on board apparently told them his co-pilot had “jumped out of the plane,” news outlets reported.
“We have a pilot that was approaching the field,” a controller told a 911 dispatcher, according to WRAL. “His co-pilot jumped out of the plane. It hit the ground and here are the coordinates.”
The call lasted about 13 minutes, with the controllers several times stating that the co-pilot had jumped.
Wake County Emergency Management Operations Manager Darshan Patel said the initial 911 call led to the search for Crooks.
The plane sustained significant damage to the landing gear and fuselage, according to preliminary information gathered by the National Transportation Safety Board. The investigation continues.
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