North Carolina Co Pilot Who Ejected From Plane In Midair Was Visibly Upset And Possibly Ill Before Taking Off Without Parachute Ntsb Says

The plane, a twin-engine CASA CN-212 Aviocar, was being operated as a parachute flight, the NTSB report said. He had already done two parachute runs and was on his way to pick up a third team. As Crooks flew the plane on its descent to Raeford West Airport, the plane descended below the tree line and “crashed,” according to the report. While attempting to re-climb the plane, the right main landing gear “struck the runway surface”, causing a hard landing. The captain took control from Crooks, got back to 400 feet and asked him to declare an emergency and request a diversion to Raleigh-Durham International Airport for a landing, the report said. At this point, Crooks was responsible for communicating with air traffic control while the pilot-in-charge flew the plane. They hit turbulence while approaching the airport, and about 20 minutes into the flight, Crooks was “visibly upset” about the rough landing, the report said. The chief pilot said Crooks then opened his cockpit side window and “may have gotten sick,” so the chief pilot took over radio communications, the report said. Crooks lowered the ramp to the back of the plane, indicating he “felt like he was going to be sick and needed air,” according to the report. “The (person in charge) stated that the (second person in charge) then stood up from his seat, removed his headphones, apologized and exited the plane through the rear ramp door,” the report said. The pilot said there was a bar Crooks could have grabbed about 6 feet above the ramp, but he never saw Crooks grab it before exiting the plane. The pilot turned the plane around to look for Crooks and notified air traffic control of Crooks’ departure from the plane. The pilot made an emergency landing at the airport. Upon post-accident examination, the plane had significant damage to the landing gear elevators and airframe structure, the NTSB report said. The plane has been impounded for further examination, the report said, and the incident remains under investigation. CNN’s Tina Burnside and Paradise Afshar contributed to this report.