Air traffic controllers say co-pilot ‘jumped’ from plane in Raleigh

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — A 911 call from air traffic controllers suggests that a co-pilot may have jumped from a damaged plane before the other pilot made an emergency landing in North Carolina.

That’s according to a recording of the call that was released today.

It’s been unclear exactly how or why Charles Hew Crooks exited the small cargo plane on Friday afternoon.

He didn’t have a parachute, and his body was found in a backyard about 30 miles south of Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

Two unnamed Federal Aviation Administration employees can be heard telling a 911 dispatcher that the plane was heading to the airport.

The pilot onboard had apparently told them that his co-pilot had “jumped out of the aircraft.”