Two Pilots on Takeoff, Only One For The Landing

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Re: Two Pilots on Takeoff, Only One For The Landing

#21 Post by PHXPhlyer » Wed Aug 10, 2022 6:00 pm

“My Copilot Just Ran Out The Back Of The Plane”- Chilling Audio From Aerial Incident Near Fort Bragg
New radio audio emerges from bizarre incident in which a pilot fell to his death from his plane that was about to make an emergency landing.


https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/m ... fort-bragg

Arecording of radio calls between an air traffic controller at Raleigh-Durham International Airport and the pilot of a stricken CASA C-212 twin-engine turboprop light cargo plane involved in a fatal incident on July 29 has now emerged online. The pilot can be heard explaining multiple times that his co-pilot got up and jumped out of the back of the aircraft, which was missing a main landing gear wheel and was about to attempt an emergency landing, without a parachute and was likely dead. The clip adds new, if still perplexing details to this already bizarre story, which you can get up to speed on first by reading The War Zone's initial reporting.

The C-212, which carries the U.S. civil registration code M497CA, is registered to a company called Spore Ltd LLC, which appears directly related to contractor Rampart Aviation, was able to make a successful emergency landing with the pilot remaining onboard only suffering minor injuries. Authorities subsequently conducted a search of the surrounding area where the other pilot jumped in Wake County, North Carolina, and found what was initially said to be the body of a 27-year-old male. The deceased was subsequently identified as 23-year-old Charles Hew Crooks. At the time of writing, the surviving pilot does not appear to have been named publicly. He and Crooks have both been identified as Rampart Aviation employees.


N497CA at Raleigh-Durham International Airport after the fatal incident on July 29, 2022. Reader submission
Publicly available air traffic control audio recordings had previously revealed details about the basic circumstances of the incident. N497CA, which was using the callsign Shady 02 at the time, had lost its right main landing gear wheel during a rough landing or touch-and-go and had diverted to Raleigh-Durham to make an emergency landing. That clip had also confirmed that two individuals were on board after the wheel broke off.

The exact circumstances surrounding Crooks' subsequent exit from the plane, which has a rear ramp, remain something of a mystery. In the new air traffic control recording of the conversation between the pilot and Raleigh-Durham's tower, which you can listen to here, both individuals, the remaining pilot and the air traffic controller, sound somewhat in shock.

A full transcript of the clip, which is only one minute and 15 seconds long, and appears to come right before the plane made its emergency landing, is as follows:

Pilot (P): "Raleigh Approach, Shady 02."

Raleigh Approach (RA): "Shady 02, Raleigh"

P: "My co-pilot just ran out the back of the plane."

RA: "Shady 02, what now?"

P: "He just ran out the back of the plane."

RA: "So you don't have a co-pilot on you, sir?"

P: "No, he just jumped out the back of the plane."

RA: "Uh, roger."

P: "Would you like me to circle where he leapt at?"

RA: "Uh, say that again?"

P: "Would you like me to circle where he got out at, or you got me on track?"

RA: "We've still got you on track, but did you need something else?"

P: "No, the dude literally jumped out the back of the plane without a parachute."

*Seven seconds of total silence*

RA: "Shady 02, did you need to do something else, circle or something, or-"

P: "No, I need to land. I'm just making you aware you're gonna have a dead body out where I just called you at. He just jumped out the back of the plane."

RA: "Roger, continue on your heading 0-5-0."

P: "Roger, 0-5-0, 0-2."

This is almost certainly what prompted Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees in the tower at Raleigh-Durham to subsequently call 9-1-1 to report that an individual had jumped from the airplane. A recording of that call emerged publicly last week, a portion of which can be heard in the video below.


The War Zone reached out to Rampart Aviation about the incident after it happened and has not yet received a response. Rampart is on contract to provide parachute training and other airdrop services to elements of the U.S. military, including U.S. Special Operations Command. The aircraft appears to have been supporting training of some kind linked to the U.S. Army's nearby Fort Bragg, a hub for the service's airborne and special operations units, at the time of the incident.

Photographs subsequently provided to The War Zone by a reader, seen at the top of this story and below, show the C-212 at Raleigh Durham with either the original right main landing gear wheel reattached, significantly repaired, or a new one installed in its place. Those pictures also show a missing portion of the landing gear sponson on that side of the aircraft.


A close-up of N497CA's right main landing gear after the incident on July 29. Reader submission
FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are currently investigating the incident. Police at Raleigh-Durham Airport questioned the pilot after the emergency landing and turned the contents of that interview over to FAA and NSTB investigators, according to WRAL-TV, a Capitol Broadcasting Company-owned television station in the Raleigh-Durham area.

At the time of writing, no official statements appear to have been made by any of the relevant authorities regarding the ongoing investigation. Family and friends of Crooks have publicly said they are hoping answers regarding his death will ultimately emerge.

PP

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Re: Two Pilots on Takeoff, Only One For The Landing

#22 Post by Ex-Ascot » Thu Aug 11, 2022 11:23 am

Thanks PP. OK how about this for a theory. The F/O was ordered down the back to stand on the ramp to inspect the gear. He fell off. The Captain is trying to avoid manslaughter charges by saying he jumped.
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Re: Two Pilots on Takeoff, Only One For The Landing

#23 Post by PHXPhlyer » Wed Aug 17, 2022 3:16 am

Co-pilot who exited a plane in mid-air during a North Carolina flight was ‘visibly upset’ and possibly sick prior to departing without a parachute, NTSB says

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/16/us/north ... index.html

The co-pilot who fell to his death after getting off an aircraft mid-flight in North Carolina may have been sick and was described as “visibly upset” prior to exiting the plane without a parachute, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation and Safety Board.

Two people – a pilot-in-charge and a second-in-charge – were initially on the July 29 flight, but only one person was on the plane when it landed, the Federal Aviation Administration said at the time. The body of Charles Hew Crooks, the 23-year-old second-in-charge, was discovered hours later in the backyard of a home in Fuquay-Varina, about 18 miles south of Raleigh, police said.

The plane, a twin-engine CASA CN-212 Aviocar, was being operated as a skydiving flight, the NTSB report said. It had already flown two skydiving runs and was on its way to pick up a third group. As Crooks flew the plane on its descent to Raeford West Airport, the plane descended below the tree line and “dropped,” according to the report.

While attempting to get the plane climbing again, the right main landing gear “impacted the runway surface,” causing a hard landing. The pilot-in-command took over controls from Crooks, reached over 400 feet again and directed him to declare an emergency and request a diversion to Raleigh-Durham International Airport for landing, the report said.

Federal officials are investigating the death of a co-pilot who exited a plane in mid-air in North Carolina
At this point, Crooks was responsible for communicating with air traffic control while the pilot-in-charge flew the plane. They hit turbulence while approaching the airport and about 20 minutes into the flight, Crooks “became visibly upset” about the hard landing, the report said.

The pilot-in-charge said Crooks then opened his side cockpit window and “may have gotten sick,” at which point the pilot-in-charge took over radio communications, the report said. Crooks lowered the ramp in the back of the airplane, indicating he “felt like he was going to be sick and needed air,” according to the report.

“The (pilot-in-charge) stated that the (second-in-charge) then got up from his seat, removed his headset, apologized, and departed the airplane via the aft ramp door,” the report said.

The pilot said there was a bar that Crooks could have grabbed about 6 feet above the ramp, but he never saw Crooks grab it before exiting the plane. The pilot turned the plane around to search for Crooks and notified air traffic control about Crooks’ departure from the plane.

The pilot proceeded with an emergency landing at the airport. On post-accident examination, the plane had substantial damage to the landing gear lifts and the airframe structure, the NTSB report said.

The plane has been retained for further examination, the report said, and the incident is still under investigation.

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Re: Two Pilots on Takeoff, Only One For The Landing

#24 Post by Ex-Ascot » Wed Aug 17, 2022 5:10 am

The obvious question is why did the Captain allow the F/O to get so low and hit the runway?
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Re: Two Pilots on Takeoff, Only One For The Landing

#25 Post by TheGreenAnger » Wed Aug 17, 2022 9:19 am

PHXPhlyer wrote:
Wed Aug 17, 2022 3:16 am
Co-pilot who exited a plane in mid-air during a North Carolina flight was ‘visibly upset’ and possibly sick prior to departing without a parachute, NTSB says

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/16/us/north ... index.html

The co-pilot who fell to his death after getting off an aircraft mid-flight in North Carolina may have been sick and was described as “visibly upset” prior to exiting the plane without a parachute, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation and Safety Board.


PP
Basically the same story...

https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/ ... 105636/pdf
The NTSB’s preliminary report (accident number ERA22LA348 ) on the July 29 fatal flight of CASA 212 N497CA, released today (Aug. 16), includes input from the still-unidentified pilot in command (PIC), who landed the damaged skydiving aircraft after his copilot, 23-year-old Charles Hew Crooks, exited via the aft ramp, falling to his death. The report remains inconclusive as to whether Crooks did or did not leave the aircraft intentionally.

As previously reported by AVweb (and followed up here), the twin-engine turboprop was damaged in a hard landing at Raeford West Airport (NR20) in North Carolina. The newly released NTSB report reveals that the second-in-command pilot (SIC), later identified as Crooks, was at the controls for the hard landing that substantially damaged the (fixed) right main landing gear. The pilot in command told the board the SIC was “on heading, altitude and airspeed” until the airplane descended below the tree line and “dropped.” The crew had flown two groups of skydivers and was returning to pick up a third load when the hard landing occurred.

Both pilots called for a go-around, and the PIC assumed control at about 400 feet AGL, according to the report. After overflying the field for ground observers to verify the aircraft’s condition (the heavily damaged landing gear was recovered from the runway), the PIC directed the SIC to declare an emergency and request a diversion to Raleigh Durham International Airport (KRDU). During the flight to RDU, Crooks communicated with air traffic control as the PIC flew. The PIC told the board that both pilots participated in coordinating with ATC, operations and their Part 135 customer, while also briefing the approach and emergency landing procedure.

The flight encountered moderate turbulence, the PIC told the board, and about 20 minutes into the diversion, he said, the SIC became “visibly upset” over the hard landing. He opened his side window and “may have gotten sick,” the PIC said.

According to the NTSB report, “The PIC took over radio communications, and the SIC lowered the ramp in the back of the airplane, indicating that felt like he was going to be sick and needed air. The PIC stated that the SIC then got up from his seat, removed his headset, apologized, and departed the airplane via the aft ramp door. The PIC stated that there was a bar one could grab about six feet above the ramp; however, he did not witness the SIC grab the bar before exiting the airplane.”
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Re: Two Pilots on Takeoff, Only One For The Landing

#26 Post by PHXPhlyer » Wed Nov 30, 2022 7:34 pm

Death of co-pilot who mysteriously exited plane midflight during emergency landing was an accident, autopsy says
Charles Hew Crooks, 23, had no alcohol or drugs in his system and told the pilot he was feeling sick before falling to his death on July 29, authorities said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/de ... -rcna59427

The death of a pilot who fell out of a twin-engine plane in North Carolina in July was an accident, according to his autopsy report.

Charles Hew Crooks, 23, who was co-piloting the CASA CN-212 Aviocar on July 29, suffered multiple blunt force injuries in an accidental fall, according to an autopsy report obtained Wednesday by NBC News from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in North Carolina.

The report also concluded Crooks “had no significant natural disease."

A toxicology report showed Crooks was tested for amphetamines, cocaine and opioids, and "toxicological testing detected no alcohols or common drugs of abuse.”

Crooks was flying for a private company that was dropping skydivers from a rear ramp in a small private field, the autopsy said. During the plane’s third-landing approach, the aircraft sustained landing gear damage. While no one was on board except for Crooks and the pilot, the aircraft headed toward Raleigh-Durham International Airport and notified air traffic control of its landing gear problem. The autopsy said the plane then encountered turbulence and Crooks told the pilot he was not feeling well.

“They were flying at approximately 3500 feet with the rear ramp open for ventilation. The aircraft encountered moderate turbulence,” the report said. “At some point, the decedent (copilot) opened a cockpit window for ventilation and possibly to vomit. Sometime after, he told the pilot that he felt he was going to be sick and apologized. He then departed the cockpit towards the open rear ramp; at some point, the pilot realized that he had apparently fallen from the aircraft.”

According to a preliminary report on the incident from from the National Transportation Safety Board, Crooks appeared “visibly upset” when he told the pilot he felt sick and needed air.

The pilot, who has not been identified, told investigators that Crooks did not appear to reach for a bar that was roughly six feet above the ramp before he fell, the report says.

Crooks was not wearing a parachute at the time.

Earlier, the pilots had been ferrying skydivers when their plane “dropped” and its landing gear struck a runway, the report says.

Crooks declared an emergency and coordinated with air traffic controllers at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, according to the report.

After roughly 20 minutes, Crooks became “visibly upset” about the hard landing and stopped communicating with air traffic controllers, the report says.

After Crooks fell from the plane, the commanding pilot alerted air traffic controllers and went searching for Crooks, the report says.

He landed the plane in a grassy area near the Raleigh airport around 2:40 p.m.

Crooks’ body was found in a neighborhood in Fuquay-Varina, southwest of Raleigh, roughly five hours later after a resident heard a noise in their backyard.

Crooks’ father, Hew Crooks, told NBC affiliate WRAL of Raleigh that his son was a certified flight instructor who had spent years working to become a pilot.

“He pursued his private pilot license while he was in college. I think he got that when he was a sophomore,” Crooks told the station. “He said a couple weeks ago he wouldn’t trade places with anybody in the world. He loved where he was.”

“I can’t imagine what happened,” he added. “We’ll figure it out, I suppose.”

PP

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