Pilot tells FAA that co-pilot jumped from plane during flight

RALEIGH, N.C. (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 Tuesday.

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.

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.”

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