Man jumped or fell from plane before it landed at RDU

The 23-year-old co-pilot's body was found in the backyard of a Fuquay-Varina residence at around 7 p.m.

It was not clear how or why Charles Hew Crooks, who had been a co-pilot on the plane, left the aircraft. He did not survive the fall, authorities said.

The plane, which is owned by SPORE LTD LLC, is a small 10-person plane. Two people – Crooks and another pilot – were on board the plane when it took off. The other pilot was able to land the plane. He was treated and released Friday night at a local hospital, but he did not speak to the media about what happened to Crooks.

Crooks, who was not wearing a parachute, was found near Sunset Lake Road and Hilltop Needmore Road in Fuquay-Varina in the Sonoma Springs neighborhood.

First responders found him when a resident on Copain Cove flagged them down after they "heard something in their backyard," said Wake County Emergency Management chief of operations Darshan Patel.

WRAL News received audio Friday night of the pilot asking traffic control for help.

"Emergency, we’ve lost our right wheel," said the pilot in the recording. "We’d like to speak to Raleigh and make an emergency landing at Raleigh."

The airfield at RDU International Airport was temporarily closed until the scene was secured.

"I saw a whole crowd of people looking out the window at the jet bridge, and then saw that propeller plane on the grass beyond the runway and a couple of emergency vehicles," said Simon Palmore, who witnessed the plane's tumultuous landing and shared photos on Twitter.