By Joe Fisher, WRAL reporter
Two Federal Aviation Administration officials in the tower at Raleigh-Durham International Airport told a Raleigh-Wake County 911 dispatcher that the surviving pilot reported that his co-pilot had ejected from the plane last week before making an emergency landing.
The body of 23-year-old Charles Hugh Crooks was found the evening of July 29 in a Fuquay-Varina backyard, hours after the plane landed at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Crooks was one of the two pilots of the CASA 212-200 aircraft.
“This is from the Raleigh airport,” an FAA official said in a recording obtained Tuesday by WRAL News. “We have a pilot that arrived in the field. His co-pilot jumped out of the plane. It hit the ground and here are the coordinates.”
The recording, a communication between those at the airport and 911 dispatchers, lasts about 13 minutes.
“He said he jumped out of the plane,” an FAA official said. “His co-pilot ejected without a parachute, so he could hit the ground.”
Wake County Emergency Management Operations Manager Darshan Patel said the initial 911 call was received around 2:30 p.m. Friday, July 29, by the RDU. Patel said the call is what prompted the search for Crooks. The flight logs show that the emergency landing took place at 14:48
FAA officials tried to figure out what happened.
“I’m sure the pilot will be shaken up,” an FAA official said. “I have no idea.
“He literally said, ‘My pilot just popped.’
Crooks had no harness or parachute.
Patel told WRAL News, “After the plane landed, it was reconfirmed based on a report that the pilot said the second person on the plane had exited the plane before landing.”
“I guess at this point all we can do is recovery,” an FAA official said. “I know. I don’t know. This is the craziest thing that’s ever happened.”
The NTSB is taking over the investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board announced Tuesday that it is taking over the investigation into Crooks’ death.
The news comes a day after the Federal Aviation Administration said it would lead the investigation.
The RDU Police Department said they interviewed the surviving co-pilot, whose name was not publicly released. RDU police have not released the incident report, citing the ongoing investigation. Airport police turned the interview over to the FAA and NTSB.
Preliminary information indicates the plane sustained significant damage to the landing gear and fuselage, according to the NTSB.
The NTSB will determine the scope of its investigation after more information is gathered. The board has not held any interviews since Tuesday.
WRAL News also requested interviews with the FAA and RDU Police.
Patel said more than 80 people were involved in the search for Crooks.
“It was a pretty big search area at first, and we wanted to make sure we were using our resources effectively, but also efficiently, to do what we could for that individual,” Patel said.
Several law enforcement agencies were involved in the search for Crooks, including Wake County Emergency Management, the City of Cary, the City of Holly Springs, the City of Fuquay-Varina and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
“It was kind of a manual labor for the people who were in that area,” Patel said.
Authorities found Crooks’ body around 7 p.m. Friday, July 29, in the backyard of a Fuquay-Varina home. A neighbor who heard a noise alerted the police in the area. Officers found Crooks with no sign of a harness or parachute.
WRAL News is working to determine what the two pilots’ mission was on July 29. Both pilots were working for Rampart Aviation at the time. The company did not respond to WRAL News’ multiple requests for comment.
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