RALEIGH, N.C. — The autopsy report for Charles Hew Crooks has been released just over four months after he fell out of an airplane before it made an emergency landing at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
Crooks, 23, was one of two pilots on the CASA C-212 Aviocar which was making skydiving runs on July 20 when its landing gear got damaged. The two pilots declared an emergency and worked with air traffic control to make a planned emergency landing at RDU.
During the flight from Raeford West Airport to RDU, the airplane experienced moderate turbulence — which is defined by abrupt changes in altitude that makes walking difficult and will cause unsecured objects to become dislodged.
According to reports from the other pilot, investigators and the medical examiner, Crooks reported feeling sick. He opened a window in the cockpit but when that didn’t help, he apologized to his co-pilot and left the cockpit heading toward the open rear ramp.
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Crooks then fell out of the back of the airplane. His body was found in the backyard of a home in Fuquay-Varina.
The moderate turbulence and the open rear ramp combined with the injuries Crooks sustained, the medical examiner agreed with investigators that his cause of death was an accident.
The medical examiner notes that Crooks cause of death is multiple blunt force injuries.
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