The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) could not definitively determine whether copilot Charles Crooks fell or jumped to his death during the emergency landing of a CASA C-212 in July 2022, per a newly released final report.
New details reveal the incident occurred during a skydiving operation at Raeford West Airport (NR20) in North Carolina. The pilots were on approach to pick up another group of skydivers with second in command (SIC) Crooks flying. According to the NTSB report, the approach was stable until the aircraft descended below the tree line and encountered wind shear. Crooks initiated a go-around, but before establishing a climb, the right main landing gear struck the runway surface and then detached.
