Charles Hew Crooks, 23, was one of two people on the small 10-person plane Friday, but it landed with only one person in Wake County, North Carolina, WRAL reported. Authorities say Crooks either jumped or fell from the plane in mid-air without a parachute. According to the report, the remaining co-pilot safely made an emergency landing at Raleigh-Durham International Airport after reporting to air traffic control that the plane had lost its right wheel and was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. Dozens of first responders were at Raleigh-Durham International Airport and several other officers searched the area and the plane’s flight path to look for Crooks’ body. His body was found later that afternoon, around 7 p.m., in the woods behind a residential area of Fuquay-Varina, about 30 miles from Raleigh-Durham International Airport, authorities said. Police later said the body landed about 30 to 40 feet from a home, and residents alerted law enforcement who searched the area. It remains unclear whether 23-year-old Charles Hugh Crooks fell from the plane or jumped.YouTube / WRALTV Wake County Emergency Management Chief of Operations Darshan Patel told a group of reporters that residents contacted officers after “hearing something in their backyard.” During a news conference that night, Fuquay-Varina Police Chief Brandon Medina said Crooks’ body fell at least 3,500 feet. He said it was not immediately clear whether the pilot was dead before the crash, but that authorities were still investigating the incident. Chief Medina would not say whether the investigation is being treated as a criminal investigation, only that the situation was “unique.” Chief Brandon Medina addressed the media about the incident and investigation on July 29, 2022. Wake County Government/Twitte “I think it was a first for many of us dealing with this incident today,” Patel added. Crooks recently earned his pilot’s license and enjoyed flying, his family said, WRAL reported. When asked about the death, Hew Crooks, the deceased pilot’s father, said: “We can’t process it right now, I don’t know.” “He pursued his private pilot’s license while in college. I think he figured it out when he was a sophomore,” Crooks added. “He said a few weeks ago that he wouldn’t trade places with anyone in the world. He loved where he was.” Regarding the mysterious details surrounding the death, the father said he “can’t imagine what happened”. “We’ll figure it out, I guess,” he concluded. The surviving co-pilot was released from the hospital after being treated for minor injuries, WRAL reported. The police chief said National Transportation Safety Board investigators are leading the investigation. Federal, state and local authorities are assisting in the investigation.
