Vanishing pilot reportedly jumped from plane say investigators

Charles Hew Crooks' co-pilot reported that he leaped out of the damaged plane before it made an emergency landing. Photo / Simon Palmore, Twitter

A pilot performing an emergency landing was found to have vanished leaving nothing but a panicked call for help to air traffic control.

Details from a call to police in North Carolina released on Tuesday have revealed a panicked call from the cockpit saying that co-pilot Charles Hew Crooks had leaped from the cockpit.

The emergency landing was radioed in at Raleigh Durham International Airport on Friday, according to news station WRAL.

From the recording air traffic control can be heard relaying an implausible emergency broadcast:

"We have a pilot who was inbound to the field. His co-pilot jumped out of the aircraft."

Shaken, the remaining pilot relayed back the coordinates his colleague "made impact" over the approach to Raleigh Durham.

The 23-year-old Bucknell University student was found later in the backyard of a Fuquay-Varina home, some 50km from the runway.

In the 13-minute exchange, two FAA air traffic employees can be heard relaying new information as the remaining pilot brought the plane to return.

"I am sure the pilot is going to be shaken up," one can be heard saying in disbelief. "I have no idea. He literally just said, 'My pilot just jumped out'."

The body of Charles Hew Crooks, 23, was discovered in the backyard of a home in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. Photo / Linkedin

Crooks reportedly "jumped out without the parachute" on return to the base.

On Friday Wakefield County emergency services confirmed that the initial 911 call had been made 18 minutes before the plane made an emergency landing at the airstrip.

Chief of operations for the emergency services, Darshan Patel, relayed the information to news-station WRAL.

"Once the aircraft had landed, it was reconfirmed based on a report the pilot said the person in the aircraft had exited the aircraft prior to landing," he said.

The body of the 23yo co-pilot was found later in a backyard 50km from the airport. Photo / WRAL

Crooks was extremely proud of his employment at Colorado-based Rampart Aviation.
His LinkedIn profile made it clear his commercial pilot's licence was a prized possession, along with qualifications for "single and multi-engine ratings along with tailwheel and high-performance endorsements".

The pilot had also been a flight instructor for a local flying school.

A photo of Charles Hew Crooks, 23, onboard an aircraft. Photo / via LinkedIn

Devin Lynch, a close friend of Crooks, said that the report didn't match what he knew about the pilot. Having known him for three years it was completely out of character.

"He was a pilot from the day I met him. I've flown with him a few times, and I can tell you first-hand what kind of pilot he was. He followed every rule to the letter."

The US National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident. The plane reportedly suffered damage to its landing gear and undercarriage, prompting the crew to make an emergency landing.

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