A co-pilot’s body was located in a Raleigh neighborhood after he jumped off plane mid-air without a parachute prompting a massive search Friday.
Authorities identified the deceased as 23-year-old Charles Hew Crooks. He was the co-pilot of the plane that later landed in an emergency in the grass, skidding off the Raleigh-Durham International Airport runway.
“Emergency, we’ve lost our right wheel,” the surviving pilot told traffic control before the landing.
“We’d like to speak to Raleigh and make an emergency landing at Raleigh.”
Witnesses reported seeing a swarm of emergency responders rushing to the runway after receiving the call.
“I saw a whole crowd of people looking out the window at the jet bridge, and then saw that propeller plane on the grass beyond the runway and a couple of emergency vehicles,” a witness said.
It’s unclear why Crooks decided to leave the plane mid-air, falling to his death in a Fuquay-Varina neighborhood’s backyard.
