Two Pilots on Takeoff, Only One For The Landing

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PHXPhlyer
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Two Pilots on Takeoff, Only One For The Landing

#1 Post by PHXPhlyer » Sat Jul 30, 2022 2:08 pm

Federal officials are investigating the death of a co-pilot who exited a plane in mid-air in North Carolina

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/30/us/north ... index.html

CNN

The body of a man who got off an aircraft mid-flight during an emergency landing Friday near Raleigh, North Carolina, has been recovered, authorities say.

Around 2:40 p.m. ET, a twin-engine CASA CN-212 Aviocar landed in the grass at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration told CNN in a statement.

Two people were onboard when the plane took off, though a spokesperson for the airport told CNN affiliate WRAL that only the pilot was on board when it landed. The pilot’s condition was not released Friday.

The body of the man believed to be the co-pilot was recovered in Fuquay-Varina just before 7 p.m., Wake County emergency management spokesperson Darshan Patel said during a news conference. A resident had alerted officers searching the area that they heard something in their backyard, Patel said.

The co-pilot was identified as Charles Hew Crooks, 23, from Raleigh, according to the Fuquay-Varina Police Department.

It is unclear whether Crooks jumped or fell from the plane, authorities say. Crooks was not wearing a parachute when his body was recovered, Patel said.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.

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

#2 Post by TheGreenAnger » Sat Jul 30, 2022 2:39 pm

PHXPhlyer wrote:
Sat Jul 30, 2022 2:08 pm
Federal officials are investigating the death of a co-pilot who exited a plane in mid-air in North Carolina

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/30/us/north ... index.html

CNN

The body of a man who got off an aircraft mid-flight during an emergency landing Friday near Raleigh, North Carolina, has been recovered, authorities say.

Around 2:40 p.m. ET, a twin-engine CASA CN-212 Aviocar landed in the grass at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration told CNN in a statement.

Two people were onboard when the plane took off, though a spokesperson for the airport told CNN affiliate WRAL that only the pilot was on board when it landed. The pilot’s condition was not released Friday.

The body of the man believed to be the co-pilot was recovered in Fuquay-Varina just before 7 p.m., Wake County emergency management spokesperson Darshan Patel said during a news conference. A resident had alerted officers searching the area that they heard something in their backyard, Patel said.

The co-pilot was identified as Charles Hew Crooks, 23, from Raleigh, according to the Fuquay-Varina Police Department.

It is unclear whether Crooks jumped or fell from the plane, authorities say. Crooks was not wearing a parachute when his body was recovered, Patel said.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.

PP
Suicide?
My necessaries are embark'd: farewell. Adieu! I have too grieved a heart to take a tedious leave.

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

#3 Post by PHXPhlyer » Sat Jul 30, 2022 3:08 pm

Nah.
Just stepped out for some fresh air.

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On second thought...murder?

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

#4 Post by Boac » Sat Jul 30, 2022 3:23 pm

You tell me one more time to synchronise those props and........

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

#5 Post by PHXPhlyer » Sat Jul 30, 2022 3:28 pm

More with pics and video of the landing.
Looks like high approach speed with lots of float.

Body of co-pilot who exited plane mid-flight during emergency landing recovered in North Carolina neighborhood
Charles Hew Crooks, 23, who was not wearing a parachute, either jumped or fell from the plane, officials said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bo ... -rcna40773

The body of a co-pilot who got off an aircraft mid-flight during an emergency landing near Raleigh, North Carolina, has been recovered, police said.

The co-pilot, identified as Charles Hew Crooks, 23, was not wearing a parachute, Wake County emergency management spokesperson Darshan Patel said at a Friday evening news conference. Authorities believe Crooks either jumped or fell out of the plane.

Crooks and a pilot were onboard a twin-engine CASA CN-212 Aviocar when it took off Friday. The plane landed in a grass area at Raleigh-Durham International Airport around 2:40 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said.

In a video obtained by NBC affiliate WRAL of Raleigh, the plane appears to skid off the runway and spin in a partial circle before coming to a stop.

The pilot, who has not been identified, told air traffic control that there was an issue with the landing gear and asked to make an emergency landing at the airport, according to the news station. The pilot suffered minor injuries and has been released from the hospital, WRAL reported.

Multiple agencies assisted in searching for Crooks. His body was recovered in a Fuquay-Varina neighborhood just before 7 p.m. after a resident flagged down an officer, saying they heard a noise behind their property.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.

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

#6 Post by PHXPhlyer » Sat Jul 30, 2022 3:30 pm

23-year-old dies after exiting plane midair before emergency landing at RDU
More details and pics.


https://www.wral.com/body-man-who-jumpe ... /20395362/

FUQUAY-VARINA, N.C. — A man jumped or fell from a plane Friday afternoon before it crashed at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport for an emergency landing after having trouble with its landing gear.

The 23-year-old co-pilot's body was found in the backyard of a Fuquay-Varina resident at around 7 p.m. during search efforts. Charles Hew Crooks did not survive the fall, authorities said.


The plane, which is owned by SPORE LTD LLC, is a small 10-person plane. Only two people were on board the plane when it took off and only one person, the pilot, was on the plane when it landed.


Crooks, who was not wearing a parachute, was found near Sunset Lake Road and Hilltop Needmore Road in a Fuquay-Varina neighborhood.

First responders found Crooks when a resident flagged them down after they "heard something in their backyard," said Wake County Emergency Management chief of operations Darshan Patel.


The pilot who landed the plane was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. He was released from the hospital on Friday night.

Emergency landing caught on camera
Video captured by a WRAL Sky 5 pilot shows the plane skid off the runway, where it spins in a partial circle before coming to a stop. Multiple firetrucks and paramedics are seen in video waiting.

WRAL News received audio Friday night of the pilot asking traffic control for help.

"Emergency, we’ve lost our right wheel," said the pilot in the recording. "We’d like to speak to Raleigh and make an emergency landing at Raleigh."

The airfield at RDU International Airport was temporarily closed until the scene was secured.

"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," said Simon Palmore, who witnessed the plane's tumultuous landing and shared photos on Twitter.

Teams spray the area around the plane. Image courtesy of Simon Palmore.

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

#7 Post by TheGreenAnger » Sat Jul 30, 2022 4:02 pm

TheGreenAnger wrote:
Sat Jul 30, 2022 2:39 pm
PHXPhlyer wrote:
Sat Jul 30, 2022 2:08 pm
Federal officials are investigating the death of a co-pilot who exited a plane in mid-air in North Carolina

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/30/us/north ... index.html

CNN

The body of a man who got off an aircraft mid-flight during an emergency landing Friday near Raleigh, North Carolina, has been recovered, authorities say.

PP
Suicide?

Suicide was the motivation in the case of this poor fellow...

Nish Bruce

He wrote a book about his "descent" into madness (well worth reading) and then later started recovering and was doing well until, returning from a parachuting competition in Spain with his girlfriend who was piloting the aircraft, he decided to deplane midair over Oxfordshire!

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

#8 Post by PHXPhlyer » Wed Aug 03, 2022 7:47 pm

Air traffic controllers said co-pilot who died after exiting plane in mid-flight emergency may have 'jumped,' 911 call shows
"We have a pilot that was inbound to the field. His co-pilot jumped out of the aircraft,” an FAA worker says on a 911 call that was released Tuesday.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ai ... -rcna41263

A 911 call made by air traffic controllers suggests that a co-pilot who died after he exited a plane during a mid-flight emergency last week may have jumped, a recording released Tuesday showed.

The body of Charles Hew Crooks, 23, was recovered last weekend after he plunged from the plane near Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday afternoon. He did not have a parachute when he exited the twin-engine CASA CN-212 Aviocar, sparking questions about whether he had fallen or jumped.

The 13-minute recording of a 911 call made by two Federal Aviation Administration employees in the air traffic control tower at Raleigh–Durham International Airport may shine some light on the situation, with the workers suggesting the other pilot reported that Crooks had jumped.

“This is from Raleigh Airport. We have a pilot that was inbound to the field. His co-pilot jumped out of the aircraft,” an FAA employee says before providing the coordinates of where the incident unfolded.

"So, they said he jumped out of the aircraft," the employee says. "His co-pilot jumped out without the parachute, so he might have impact to the ground.”

The dispatcher says at one point, "I guess at this point in time, all we can really do is kind of do a recovery."

A different FAA worker who takes over the call says: "Yeah, I know. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. This is the craziest thing I've ever dealt with.

"I mean, I'm sure this pilot is going to be shaken up. I have no idea. He literally just said, 'My pilot just jumped out,'" the employee says. The identities of the FAA workers have not been released.

There was no indication why Crooks may have jumped, and an investigation continues.

The pilot had told air traffic control that there was an issue with the landing gear, and he had asked to make an emergency landing at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

The plane landed on a grassy area at the airport at around 2:40 p.m., the FAA said.

In a video obtained by NBC affiliate WRAL of Raleigh, the plane appears to skid off the runway and spin in a partial circle before it comes to a stop.

There was substantial damage to the landing gear and the fuselage, preliminary information gathered by the National Transportation Safety Board showed, according to The Associated Press.

A number of agencies assisted in searching for Crooks. His body was recovered in the nearby town of Fuquay-Varina after a resident flagged down an officer to report having heard a noise behind their property.

Crooks' father, Hew Crooks, told WRAL that his son spent years working toward his dream of becoming a pilot.

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

He said his family had been left devastated and questioning what exactly happened.

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

Crooks said that his son had been certified to fly in any conditions and that he had previously been a flight instructor.

His loss, his father said, has left an unfillable void in the family.

“We’re a strong family, and we’re a very loving family. But this, it leaves a hole,” he said.

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

#9 Post by Fox3WheresMyBanana » Wed Aug 03, 2022 8:14 pm

I have 'Freefall' by Tom Read, and also recommend it. That and 'Chickenhawk' by Robert Mason

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

#10 Post by PHXPhlyer » Thu Aug 04, 2022 5:25 pm

Came across this whilst checking out LG's NCR machine.



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

#11 Post by PHXPhlyer » Thu Aug 04, 2022 5:40 pm

Posted before watching the video.
Surprised by the postulation, but it makes sense.

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

#12 Post by Ex-Ascot » Sat Aug 06, 2022 9:33 am

Do I read this correctly? They had a problem with the starboard landing gear. They lowered the ramp and the F/O went down the back to stand on the ramp where he could get a visual on it. No harness or parachute and fell off. If the Captain ordered this it is manslaughter. If he offered to do it a Darwin award.
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Re: Two Pilots on Takeoff, Only One For The Landing

#13 Post by TheGreenAnger » Sat Aug 06, 2022 2:24 pm

Ex-Ascot wrote:
Sat Aug 06, 2022 9:33 am
Do I read this correctly? They had a problem with the starboard landing gear. They lowered the ramp and the F/O went down the back to stand on the ramp where he could get a visual on it. No harness or parachute and fell off. If the Captain ordered this it is manslaughter. If he offered to do it a Darwin award.
The video puts this incident into some more perspective. As you say, attempting to look out of the back without a connected harness would have been foolhardy in the extreme. Perhaps the young chap had a harness which became disconnected or one that he erroneously believed was connected?
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Re: Two Pilots on Takeoff, Only One For The Landing

#14 Post by TheGreenAnger » Sat Aug 06, 2022 2:52 pm

An anecdote, as an aside, arising from the question about skydiving pilots wearing or not wearing parachutes, an old schoolmate, now skydiving school owner, gifted stick and rudder pilot, and gyrocopter instructor had discharged the meat bombs from his aircraft when an almost uncontrollable aileron flutter occurred which resulted in the yoke jamming. He told me about the dilemma he faced some months after the incident, and that had he been wearing a chute he would have used the rudder to turn the aircraft towards the coast and jumped before it coasted out. As it was, it was clear that he would not get down on the dust strip that he had just taken off from, so he declared an emergency and was vectored by Cape Town International ATC onto a very long final for runway 19 which is over 10,000 feet long and by judicious use of the rudders and the throttle, he made a greaser of a landing while all the emergency services anticipated a crash. The main spar had been twisted and ultimately the aircraft was written off.

The hero of that hour is currently recovering from serious injuries sustained when his gyrocopter crashed and burned but that is another story!
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Re: Two Pilots on Takeoff, Only One For The Landing

#15 Post by ExSp33db1rd » Sun Aug 07, 2022 12:51 am

The only reason to jump out of an aircraft is when it's on fire.

The " Everybody get out of my way, I'm airborne " attitude of many of our skydive pilots is an ongoing PITA at our local, unattended, airport.

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

#16 Post by Ex-Ascot » Sun Aug 07, 2022 8:25 am

A thought did occur to me was if he was on a harness and fell off who was going to get him back in? He would have to run very fast upon landing.
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Re: Two Pilots on Takeoff, Only One For The Landing

#17 Post by Ex-Ascot » Wed Aug 10, 2022 5:45 am

'Yes, Madam, I am drunk, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly.' Sir Winston Churchill.

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

#18 Post by G-CPTN » Wed Aug 10, 2022 9:12 am

The country you are located in is not supported.
Sorry for the inconvenience, but we do not allow access in your current location.

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

#19 Post by Ex-Ascot » Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:03 am

Sorry Cptn but I can't find an alternative link. The one posted was ATC recording of the Captain reporting the accident. Rather amusing if it can be under the circumstances. Pilot says my F/O just ran down the back and jumped out. ATC can't belive it says so you don't have a copilot then and so it goes on. I will try to post the transcript.
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Re: Two Pilots on Takeoff, Only One For The Landing

#20 Post by G-CPTN » Wed Aug 10, 2022 1:59 pm

I can well imagine that a running jump from the rear ramp of an aircraft could be exhilarating - including the freefall - though not so sure about the 'landing'.

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