

He loved where he was.'Ĭrooks was found to have 'exited' the aircraft while it was in the air, landing in a backyard in Fuquay-Varina before his remains were discoveredĬrooks told WRAL his son's death was still a mystery to him, adding he 'can't imagine what happened.'

Hew told WRAL that Crooks had recently told him how 'he wouldn't trade places with anybody in the world.

His father, Hew Crooks, is mystified by the tragedy, and says Charles, who was his eldest son, was happy. He was not wearing a parachute at the time of the plunge. Mystery now surrounds Crooks tragic death whether he fell from the plane - possibly while trying to fix the problem - or whether he chose to jump. The plane is licensed by Spore LTD LLC, who are managed by Rampart Aviation, a which offers pilot and plane training for the Department of Defense. The plane later made an emergency landing at a local airport, with the co-pilot taken for hospital treatment. He was piloting the small plane with an unnamed co-pilot when it suffered a fault with its landing gear. A 23 year-old pilot died after falling or jumping from a small aircraft after its landing gear suffered a fault.Ĭharles Hew Crooks was found in Fuquay-Varina on Friday after a confusing search for law enforcement that included multiple county, state and federal agencies.
