An investigation was launched after authorities learned the fate of the pilot
A pilot leapt to his death in a shocking turn of events after he damaged the plane’s landing gear, and his last words to his co-pilot are nothing short of heartbreaking.
An investigation was launched following an incident that saw Charles Hew Crooks jump out of a plane when he was second in command during a flight to North Carolina in July 2022.
The twin-engined CASA CN-212 Aviocar had been transporting skydivers when it ‘dropped’.
As a result, the aircraft’s landing gear hit a runway, according to a report into the incident from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report into the death of Crooks.
Charles Hew Crooks, 23, did not have a parachute, and his body was found in a backyard in the town of Fuquay-Varina.
Crooks was ‘visibly upset’ after a landing issue. (Brown-Wynne Funeral Home)
The audio recording has Crooks’ co-pilot saying: “We have lost the right wheel. We’d like to proceed to Raleigh and make the landing in Raleigh”, ahead of Crooks jumping.
He testified that Crooks’s last words before he jumped out of the plane were ‘I’m sorry’.
The preliminary report stated that Crooks became ‘visibly upset’ 20 minutes after he had damaged the plane’s landing gear.
The pilot in command added that Crooks said he was going to be sick and needed some air, lowered the ramp of the airplane and then ran out.
Following Crook’s jump, an audio clip of the other pilot explaining the bizarre situation has been released.
The pilot can be heard saying: “My copilot just ran out the back of the plane.”
The reply is a rather stunned ‘he just did what now?’, which prompts the pilot to repeat his message.
Crooks was visibly upset after damaging the plane according to the report (WRAL)
There is a pause before the operator asks: “So, you don’t have a co-pilot no longer, sir?”
“No he just jumped out the back of the plane.”
There is another pause before the pilot asks: “Would you like me to circle where he left at?”
The operator says to continue on, before asking: “Did you need something else?”
The pilot says: “No this dude literally jumped out the back of the plane without a parachute.”
While Crook’s co-pilot said that the jump was intentional, the report argued that there was ‘insufficient information to support that assertion’.
Laurent Bert-Roussel, a pilot who trained with Crooks years ago, spoke to WRAL and commented on the situation, noting his surprise.
He said: “I could not really believe that Charlie could decide to jump out of an aircraft which is basically what, committing suicide?
“Just because of an incident in an aircraft. In this situation, as second in command he is basically not responsible as far as the FA is concerned.”Featured Image Credit: YouTube/WRAL5
Topics: News, US News, Mental Health
Published 13:45 9 Oct 2024 GMT+1
Woman lands plane after pilot husband suffers heart attack mid-flight
The Las Vegas woman managed to avert a major disaster despite never previously flying a plane
After her pilot husband suffered a heart attack, Yvonne Kinane-Wells took control of the plane and by some miracle managed to land it safely.
Something happening to your pilot has got to be up there with greatest fears while travelling in an airplane.
For the simple fact, most people aren’t pilots and don’t know how to fly a plane.
But 69-year-old Yvonne Kinane-Wells didn’t let that stop her, and with the help of air traffic control was able to safely land the plane and get medical attention to her husband, 78-year-old Eliot Alper.
Woman lands plane after pilot husband suffers heart attack mid-flight
(ABC News)
https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.695.1_en.html#fid=goog_1433133641
0 seconds of 1 minute, 44 secondsVolume 90%
The incident took place mid-flight on last Friday afternoon (October 4) as the pair were flying in his small plane from Henderson Executive Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, to Monterey Regional Airport.
Due to the in-air emergency, the plane had to be landed Meadows Field Airport in Bakersfield, California and miraculously, the plane was undamaged and Yvonne was unharmed.
An audio recording between Yvonne and air traffic control highlighted just how calm the 69-year-old was in what can easily be described as one of the most stressful situations in the world.
The traffic control worker is heard telling Yvonne to ensure that she gives the plane more power to maintain its altitude.
After her husband had a medical emergency Yvonne took control of the situation(ABC News)
He even tells her to turn the plane in order to set herself up for a clean landing.
They said: “Your altitude is looking good, 5,900 feet, try to stay level at 6. You’re in a right-hand turn. Continue that right-hand turn.
“We’re going to set you up so that as you level off from your turn you are going to be straight in for Bakersfield Airport. Is that all right?”
Yvonne tentatively replied ‘Okay’ and proceeded to follow the instructions.
Waiting for her at the airport were emergency crews ready to leap to action in case the worst should happen.
Kinane-Wells exceeded the entirety of the 11,000-foot runway, skirting a little off road before coming to a halt. But that is a considerably better ending for what could have turned into a major disaster.
Yvonne amazingly managed to land the plane undamaged and herself unharmed (ABC News)
The Kern County Fire Department immediately took a still-immobile Alper to the hospital.
It is not yet clear the condition of Alper following the incident, however.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the incident in a statement and said they will be launching an investigation.
The statement said: “The passenger of a twin-engine Beechcraft King Air 90 landed at Meadows Field Airport in California around 1:40 pm local time on Friday, October 4, after the pilot had a medical emergency.”
“The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide all updates.”Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Inside Edition
Topics: Las Vegas, News, US News, Health, Mental Health
.png)
Published 12:58 18 Dec 2024 GMT
Audio transmission captures pilot’s tragic final words as plane crashed into building killing two
The pilot made a snap decision to minimize the impact of the crash
A pilot’s final five words have been captured in an audio transmission just moments before his aircraft crashed into an airport, killing two.
Emergency services in Honolulu were called to reports of a plane crash into a building near Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Hawaii, on Tuesday (December 17) around 3pm.
Kamaka Air Cessna 208 Caravan was conducting a training flight at the time when eyewitnesses saw the plane flying at an alarmingly low altitude, close to an elevated rail track.
Witnesses saw the plane flying at low altitude (Ken Schmidt/Hawaii News Now)
Locals feared the aircraft would come crashing down on the many cargo areas and industrial businesses that sit along the Ualena and Aolele streets, but it crashed into an empty building and killed the two people on board the jet.
Sister Alicia Damien Lau told KHON2 News: “I saw this plane coming from the south and going around and losing altitude.
“It looked like it was going on towards the main terminal but it kept losing altitude until there was a big crash and that’s when everything was just black smoke.”
Plane crash near Honolulu airport
KHON2 News
0 seconds of 41 secondsVolume 90%
Another witness, a worker called Sergiy Shpanka, told Hawaii News Now that they were working a few building away when ‘we heard, you know, loud sound’.
Sergiy continued: “It was crazy because it was so low, and then he is turning left side, and we didn’t see… we continue to come here and see [the] fire.”
The pilot was reportedly advised to land somewhere safe, on ‘any runway, any place you can do’ before it smashed into the side of the vacant building, which is owned by the airport.
The aircraft was seen near the elevated railway tracks (Hawaii News Now)
Before the crash, tower control could be heard asking the pilot of the small plane, ‘You’re turning right, right?’
The pilot then responded what is now known as his chilling final words in the audio transmission: “We are… we have…uh… we’re out of control here.”
The tower radioed back: “Okay, if you can land, if you can level it off, that’s fine. Any runway, any place you can do.”
Holululu Fire Department Chief, Sheldon Hao, told Hawaii News Now that it was lucky the crash-site had been abandoned with the building the plane crashed into set for demolition with plans to turn it into a parking garage.
Black smoke billowed into the sky after the crash (Hawaii News Now)
The fire chief said it was a ‘best-case scenario’ as ‘no one else was involved’.
The director of the Hawaii Department of Transportation, Ed Sniffen, also commented: “This could have been much, much worse, but the situation was limited to the two that was flying the plane… from what we understand the pilot made a lot of adjustments to minimize what they hit.”
The names of the two people who died in the plane crash have not been released.
Honolulu Mayor, Rick Blangiardi, said in a statement that he is ‘deeply saddened’ by the tragic news that claimed the lives of the two Kamaka Air employees.
The Mayor added: “On behalf of the City and County of Honolulu, I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of those we lost.
“This heartbreaking incident reminds us of the dedication and risks taken by those who help keep Hawaii’s essential goods moving.”Featured Image Credit: Hawaii News Now
Published 15:35 23 Dec 2024 GMT
Heartbreaking audio reveals airport worker’s final moments after he hijacked commercial plane and completed barrel roll
The hijacker spoke to tower control and told them he would be doing aerial maneuvers
Audio footage has shed more light on a 2018 incident that saw an airport worker hijack a plane, take to the skies and tragically die.
Back in 2018, ground service agent with Horizon Airlines 29-year-old Richard Russell hijacked a plane at Seattle–Tacoma International airport on the evening of August 10.
Richard Russell hijacks plane
(Inside Edition)
https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.695.1_en.html#fid=goog_1433133642
0 seconds of 1 minute, 54 secondsVolume 90%
Surveillance footage shows the baggage handler walking through security wearing a shirt that reads ‘The Sky’s No Limit’ ahead of committing the crime.
Footage from a runway, shows him struggle to tow an empty Alaska Airlines jet before hopping in and taking off as it began to roll away with no one inside.
When Russell made contact with the flight tower he seemed to make light of the situation.
He even went as far as to say: “I’ve played video games before so I, uh, I know what I’m doing a little bit.”
He added: “I’ve got myself in a bit of a predicament, I’m in the air right now.”
Russell spoke to tower control throughout the hijacking of the plane (Inside Edition)
The tower operator asked for clarification that he had just taken off and asked whether Russell was even meant to be in the aircraft, to which he answered he wasn’t.
This proved to be a confusing situation for authorities as fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the plane, fearing a terrorist attack.
For an hour, Russell flew the plane around the skies of Seattle even doing maneuvers, such as a barrel roll.
Most hauntingly, Russell gave an insight into his mindset during the incident, something that seemed to contradict what those closest to him thought about his well-being.
According to reports, outwardly Russell appeared to be fine, but he revealed in his final audio message that he had been struggling.
He said: “I wouldn’t know how to land it. I wasn’t really planning on landing it. I just wanted to do a couple of maneuvers and see what it can do before I put her down.
“I’m sorry about this, I hope this doesn’t ruin your day”
Russell eventually crashed the plane, killing himself (Inside Edition)
The tower operator continued to advise Russell as he discussed the aerial maneuvers he would be trying out in the air.
He later said: “Just a broken guy who has got a few screws loose, I guess.
“Never really knew it, until now.”
The situation came to an abrupt end when Russell crashed the plane on a remote island, killing himself.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123Featured Image Credit: Handout/Inside Edition/YouTube
Published 10:35 28 Apr 2025 GMT+1
Tragic final command Black Hawk helicopter pilot failed to execute 15 seconds before it crashed with American Airlines plane
The crash resulted in the death of 67 people back in January
The collision of the commercial American Airlines plane and a Black Hawk helicopter at the end of January resulted in the deaths of everyone involved.
The plane was coming to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport, while the Black Hawk was in the progress of doing a training exercise.
Both aircraft crashed into the Potomac River and investigations were launched to discover what were the causes of the crash.
Authorities were able to confirm that 64 passengers on the plane died along with the 3 individuals on the helicopter.
Investigators into the incident at the time found that the helicopter crew may have had bad information on their altitude before it was struck by the plane.
One of the pilots reportedly thought they were at 400 feet and the other thought they were at 300 feet. However, the NTSB is not yet prepared to say at what exact altitude the helicopter was at the point of impact.
Air traffic control asked about whether the helicopter had seen the plane seconds before collision (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jennifer Homendy said: “We are looking at the possibility of there may be bad data.
“In addition to this, the transmission from the tower, that instructed the helicopter to go behind the plane, may not have been heard by the crew the pilot may have keyed her radio at the same second and stepped on the transmission from ATC.”
This has since been confirmed as the New York Times reported seconds before the collision the pilot failed to heed her flight instructor’s warning.
Around 8:46 p.m., when co-pilot Andrew Eaves requested approval for the helicopter’s pilots to use their own visuals instead of air-traffic control in order to avoid other air traffic. This was approved as it’s common practice to help speed things up, however, with that comes the risk of human error.
Rebecca Lobach also missed an order from Eaves, who was overseeing her training mission.
As well as this, officials found that the pilots ‘stepped on’ some of the air traffic controller’s instructions, this term means they inadvertently cut off Eaves when pressing the button to talk over the radio. This is believed to have contributed to them missing important information.
Many errors are thought to have contributed to the crash (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
Seconds before the crash, an air-traffic controller asked the helicopter if it spotted American Airlines Flt. 5342.
This was the last communication between the plane and the air traffic control.
Technology on the Black Hawk helicopter that would normally help air traffic control better track the helicopter was also turned off, which would be normal protocol if the training mission had been for real.
Brig. Gen. Matthew Braman, the Army’s director of aviation has made it clear that multiple things ultimately contributed to the crash.
He said: “I think what we’ll find in the end is there were multiple things that, had any one of them changed, it could have well changed the outcome of that evening.”Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Handout
