A pilot fell to his death after exiting a plane mid-flight during an emergency landing near Raleigh, North Carolina. Police say 23-year-old Charles Hew Crooks either jumped or fell from the plane without a parachute; however, there is no mention of the pilot exiting the aircraft on new audio recordings from inside the cockpit. After a lengthy search on Friday, Crooks’ body was found in a backyard roughly 30 miles from where the plane landed. The second pilot’s identity is still unknown.
» Subscribe to NBC News: http://nbcnews.to/SubscribeToNBC
» Watch more NBC video: http://bit.ly/MoreNBCNews
NBC News Digital is a collection of innovative and powerful news brands that deliver compelling, diverse and engaging news stories. NBC News Digital features NBCNews.com, MSNBC.com, TODAY.com, Nightly News, Meet the Press, Dateline, and the existing apps and digital extensions of these respective properties. We deliver the best in breaking news, live video coverage, original journalism and segments from your favorite NBC News Shows.
Connect with NBC News Online!
NBC News App: https://apps.nbcnews.com/mobile
Breaking News Alerts: https://link.nbcnews.com/join/5cj/breaking-news-signup?cid=sm_npd_nn_yt_bn-clip_190621
Visit NBCNews.Com: http://nbcnews.to/ReadNBC
Find NBC News on Facebook: http://nbcnews.to/LikeNBC
Follow NBC News on Twitter: http://nbcnews.to/FollowNBC
Follow NBC News on Instagram: http://nbcnews.to/InstaNBC
#NorthCarolina #CharlesHewCrooks #NBCNews
It would seem that, on receiving a signal that part of their landing gear did not deploy correctly, the co-pilot attempted to open his side window to see if he could tell if the gear on that side was actually deployed or not and that maybe they had been receiving an incorrect signal sent to their cockpit display. He may have ‘leaned out too far’ in the attempt.
Foul play?????
No way you wouldn’t say something if a person fell or jumped out of the plane.
He pressed Y by accident.
It’s not GTA
Sounds fishy
Darwin strikes again.
I’m sure he died of a heart attack out of sheer terror prior to hitting the ground. But very unfortunate to say the least.
My Condolences They need ask co pilot A lot of questions How what happened
Ok now this makes no sense whatsoever- WHY would he even jump from an airplane?? There’s a massive hole in the story & facts behind this obviously.
It’s tragic sad & simple – he was murdered or committed suicide or some freak accident occurred
My deepest condolences to the family- so sad.
OUCH!
Got PUSHED OUT! CHECK OUT PILOT! SOMETHING FISHY HERE!
Murdered?
This is so bizarre. I was a mechanic in the Air Force for 31 years and I can say with complete assurance that any modern aircraft in good condition can land on it’s belly just fine. The plane may never fly again after that but it won’t burst into flames. Why he would have jumped with no parachute when it would have been safe to stay onboard I have no idea.
@busterthe2 Sure
@busterthe2 Makes sense
Got sucked out if you watch the air force one movie all those standing at the rear are harnessed to avoid flying out involuntarily.
@jemmo utuber I’m not sure getting sucked out is a thing at low altitude. Are planes pressurized sufficiently at low altitude for that? Im thinking just fell after turbulance maybe
@busterthe2 you’re right at low altitudes maybe it was depressurized something horrible happened at 23 the lad had a long life to go 😭
So sad! Who is he? Clark Kent?
Was he trying to look out a door to see the damage to the landing gear and slipped and fell out. A pilot doesn’t panic like that and jump . Thats idiotic. He was trying to surveil the damage .
The other pilot needs to be checked out
I don’t understand HOW this could happen??? Who jumps from a plane without a parachute unless it’s a suicide mission? Or they were pushed out??? RIP Charles. Doesn’t add up. Also the pilot talking is way to cool/ calm about it, no emotion whatsoever. Just not normal.
Pilots have to be in control by remaining calm. Just listen to any audio of the flight crew during an emergency.
He didn’t jump, and he wasn’t pushed. You forgot the biggest plausible action. He wasn’t safely secured, and fell out.
Pilots HAVE to remain calm, and work the problem. Nobody wants screaming, unintelligible communication going through emergency comms. Especially, if the pilot is carrying passengers. Listen to recordings of crashed planes. You might hear some stress in voice,but all are calm and clear, right up to impact. If you can’t be calm, during stressful training/emergency exercises, you will not become a pilot. That’s why pilots are cucumber cool.
Lord help
Sus
This guy didn’t jump, he fell or slipped. Why spin this narrative, his family is dealing with enough.
He was push Rich people are guilty as a poor black man is to a police man
Handle the matter right or I smite the earth agian
can’t fix stupid
Perhaps he attempted to look at the condition of the landing gear?
WHY IS THIS STILL A MYSTERY??? Doesn’t the pilot have anything to say???!!!!
My inner Colombo thinks, “he was pushed by the other pilot.” Clues to check for: Was there a history between the two? Motive? Alibi? Any financial gain? Was something in the plane sabotaged to cause the plane to rock tossing the co-pilot out?
Pretty sure he had a pretty rock solid alibi flying the dang airplane duh
I don’t understand why the pilot did not inform authorities that the co had exited the plane when it happened! Sounds odd.
The plane is loud. It’s bouncy, vibrating. Planes such as this are not quiet luxury car cabins. It’s not a pressurized jet cockpit. The pilot is flying the plane, dealing with warning bells, talking to tower, and staying as calm as possible to land.
Also, as sad as it sounds, the pilot may have been dealing with it. And not mentioned it at the time, because that’s more drama, not related to flying the aircraft not getting it down safely. ( Also, he may have not known the copilot was missing, until a while. One thing about aviation/emergency radio is you communicate facts.. if he states I’m not sure where my copilot is…” He will look like a complete bonehead to the aviation industry. If the copilot, was in the plane, and pilot lists him as missing. Often times is safer to deal with the risk at hand, live through it, and discuss everything afterwards.
sussy…really sussy
It wasn’t the fall that killed him, it was the sudden stop at the end.
Everyone grieves diff but something about those parents seems off.
Why????real suspicious…that’s not really what happend
So sad. My prayers go out to the young man’s family and to the pilot. I can’t imagine seeing something so horrific, and having to live with that memory for the rest of my life.
Looks like a case of ” stupid is as stupid does “
Please remain seated until the fasten seat belt sign goes off.
I’m suspicious🤨
COME ON MAN he was kicked out after a fight in the cockpit its only answer
Look at all those houses, same color, same roofs, same everything. Depressing like living in a prison. Maybe it is one of those hoas, another term for house prison.
Hmmmmmmmm…
I 😢 for weeks after 🐟 🐠 died in an aquarium when💧 heater malfunctioned
👀 were puffy
👃 ran like a faucet
🏃♀️ through 🤧
Too many pieces of the puzzle are missing
You don’t jump or fall out without a reason. Bummer is worse for the people on who’s property dude splattered.
This is awesome!
This is weird. The pilot never mentioned the co-pilot had jumped.
It looked like he was push out of the plane. The pilot murdered the co pilot.
When the plane landed the doors were closed. This is fishy
It’s sounds like suicide to me. He should have stayed in the plane, and he would have more than likely survived.
Pilots not at fault.He is preoccupied with guiding the plane down safely.The young man went to check landing gear status and fell out of the hatch he removed for a better visual.Sad accident.Thats all folks.
Yeah that’s right the guy opens the door on the airplane then falls out, you sue the airplane cause it didn’t have warning stickers say do not open while flying..
Something is off it’s not right my husband was a retired corporate pilot he had 10,000 hours he had a school of flying and she was a flying instructor you don’t fall out of a plane there’s no way you can’t even a regular plan you can’t jump out of it unless you going to jump and parachute then you have a special plane that you jump out of it but as far as falling out of the plane that don’t happen it just does not I’m sorry but it just something is not right this picture is totally wrong and he had no seatbelt on. Well I’m telling you this is not a good picture at all.
“23-Year-Old Co-Pilot Dies After Exiting Plane Without Parachute’
Careful, that first step is a dooozy.
Why? I guess he thought he could fly
Wow. Well the other pilot absolutely knows what happened.
I don’t think so, in that moment you are hyper focused on landing a plane and not dying yourself. I know I wouldn’t be looking back there in this situation
🎼I believe I can fly!!! Ooops, no. My bad. This is gonna hurt!!! 🎼 🥴
Jumped with no parachute? Why would he do that? Come on now lol. Dude was murdered
Note to self…
Don’t jump out without parachute.
This is weird
Something’s up.
Your Co Pilot just disappears and you mention nothing over the radio?
This gentleman provided vocals for the Felis Leopard Boeing 747-200 Classic for X-Plane 11. The X-Plane and Flight Simulation community will miss him dearly.
What does this troll mean in laymens?
Why would anyone peek out the back hatch door to look at the landing gear when you can simply look out the side window?
Why did they not circle around and make another landing attempt at the first site, instead of flying further away to make a second attempt?
This is a STOL plane; the pilot that exited the airplane knows he was in pretty much zero danger from a belly landing, or, from a 1 wheel missing landing. The PIC (pilot in command) did a botched landing at a nearby airport and lost a wheel. Both pilots knew that in this particular plane this is not an earth shaking problem. This plane is used at times for parachutists, since it can fly so slow. The doors open inwards. My guess is, the pilot that exited the airplane opened the side door, laid on the floor of the plane, and tried to look out at how much damage they had from the botched landing. The airstream somehow pulled him out. If that isn’t what happened, then the dead pilot is a complete dunce because there is zero reason to jump out of that plane for a simple landing gear issue.
How about pushed from the plane
Did they say no communication or mention to tower of a copilot jumping out till plane was on the ground? That’s really strange.
It looked like he was murdered. The pilot had pushed him out of the plane.
Wait, What? On the recording the pilot says “I guess we’re going to bring it in on its belly” He uses the term ‘We’re” rather than “I’m” which would imply the co pilot was still on the plane, Very suspicious death.
You are a pilot, flying a stricken plane. You have your hands full, trying to fly, crash the plane, live through it, and also talk to the tower. One thing is pilots have to remain calm, to survive, and work the problem. The other thing is, nobody talks about what might be going through the pilots head. He might not be sure what to say, without it adding more stress to landing. He may not have known. He may have known, but not how to say it. Because radio communication is VERY important. If he said ” Im missing my copilot, he’s not in the plane.”… And if the plane lands WITH the copilot, on board, that looks very unprofessional to the pilot. You don’t want ” I’m not sure what’s going on, I don’t know if he is here, or not..” that looks really bad on you, broadcasting this all over emergency comms.
What looks or sounds suspicious to a non-flyer, is often not an issue, to aviators. Because they know a lot more about the goings-on of an aircraft, and flight procedure)protocol. They go off of FACTS, not “I feel this is “sus”.
😔” HOW SAD! “
What an awful tragedy! So so sad!
Rest in Peace brave young man!! 😢
That looks really suspicious!!!!!!
REALLY?
I cannot believe the fear the Co-Pilot would’ve had for 25 seconds as he was free-falling to his inevitable death. It’s like one of those dreams, only you won’t wake up this time.
I wonder if that’s what the person on the ground heard, him screaming?
Exactly like the one when ‘you think you’re falling off a cliff !
You would know if a door was opened on that plane.
Nothing sketch about that all. Totally believable.
Um…what happened to him? Why did the pilot not say a single word? Something is wrong.
It looked like the pilot murdered the co pilot.
@smith449 The rear of the aircraft has a cargo ramp and the turbulence in the back is dangerous without a harness. There are a lot of possibilities, none of which are the second pilot leaving the controls to push the other out.
Just WOW…a man dies after exiting a plane in flight….imagine that….simply amazing someone would actually die from that….with no parachute either. Oh…very clever reporting too….must be the same people reporting and investigating the Alex Baldwin shooting.
Very Suspicious to me. Investigate the pilot. Interrogate him.
How did someone jump/fall of all doors are close?
Was he pushed out? was it deliberately planned by him? Dis he have a mental situation going on? Was there a fight between the two pilots? A man doesn’t just jump.out of a plane without a parachute!
The pilot at the controls will at some point say more but I’m sure that for right no he’s placing blame on himself for an accident.
I don’t believe he jumped voluntarily. That’s so unbelievable. Who in his right mind would do that?
He was born to fly that’s for sure
Maybe the young mans electrolyte levels were off.This could cause someone to be confused! One can’t straight if sodium levels are low.
Condolences and prayers to his family.
W.T.F???
The shaky competition genomically taste because almanac coincidentally watch pro a vivacious celery. nauseating, gifted wren
Sus
So young .. his adult life just started
Is it possible he was trying to repair the landing gear somehow? And then maybe fell.
Whoa
He was killed
Born to fly. 🤔 without wings
Something is not right …it has to be investigated. .it seems to me like the pilot that landed didn’t seem concerned at all .I would have been concerned and reported it as soon as possible ..
He was pushed.
Really? Sure..
Sounds to me like foul Play if you asked me nobody’s dumb enough to jump from a plane without a parachute sorry I think this is murder
Dad looks to be smiling..wth..looks so sus
I’m lost was this in the air of near the ground?
Unfunnily enough another man called Charles commited suicide by jumping out of a small plane back in 90s. Ex member of british S.A.S.
I haven’t watch the video yet and I’m going to but I can tell already that There is something that isn’t right about this
Another “mysterious” death checked off for the Elites Depopulation Agenda 2030 goal.
Its really moving to see – -ALL OF THE LINKS AND ADVERTS OVER THE CARING FAMILY (1:40) ;-(
Something is up & I believe that The Parent’s are involved. What caught my eye was the the “Father’s” smirk on his face when he was mentioning that his son had always loved flying and he looked off to his left instead of looking straight ahead at the camera, & then when the “reporter” asked the parents that Ridiculous Question, both of the parents seemed as if they were acting & they had no tears at all and their emotions did not seem to be authentic
Yeah sure they pushed him, while at home miles away. Too many conspiracies in this one!
Suicide,Murder or accident?
Nah dude kicked him off the plane, cause how you report the condition of the plane but not your co-pilot falling or jumping off the plane. Not making any sense that young man was killed😡
It’s called suicide. So sad.
Landing gear fault and co pilot ‘falling’ would suggest the co-pilot could have been trying to visually inspect landing gear and fell. Tragic story all around.
Dummy.
he was young, still a child growing how sad!!! a brain isn’t fully developed until ur 25