23-year-old man who ‘exited’ plane found dead in Fuquay-Varina after massive search

The News and Observer ^ | 30 July 2022 | KRISTEN JOHNSON

[DUMBGRUNT]

A 23-year-old man who “exited” a plane Friday afternoon before it made an emergency landing at Raleigh-Durham International Airport was found dead around 7 p.m. in Fuquay-Varina, authorities said.

...Crooks was the plane’s co-pilot

That was the tragic ending to a confusing emergency at RDU Friday. Around 3 p.m., a twin-engine turbo prop aircraft reported landing gear issues as it approached the airport, according to the airport. The plane landed on Runway 5R-23L and veered into the grass, according to the airport. The pilot, the only passenger on the plane when it reached the ground, was taken to a Duke University hospital with minor injuries, an airport spokesperson said.

[Verginius Rufus]

Varina was Jefferson Davis' second wife's name. (His first wife, the daughter of the future President Zachary Taylor, died a few months after they were married.)

That may have nothing to do with the name of the airport.

[schurmann]

“...If there was no door open he probably went thru the landing gear while trying to lower it.” [TangoLimaSierra, post 44]

C-212 doesn’t appear to have retractable landing gear.

I looked up photos. Not one single inflight image showed anything except the wheels sticking out, as fixed undercarriage would.

A few images showed a port-side nose compartment hatch open. No indications of a gear well, nor wheel-well doors.

Numerous drawings showed the same thing.

[Hermes37]

If I'm not mistaken (big _IF_), the CASA-212 has a steerable nose wheel.

This may be why the aircraft veered off of the runway upon landing.

___change sub-topic___

The majority of US dropzones are United States Parachute Association USPA affiliated. The USPA has “standards’ for instructors etc. and I recommend USPA DZ’s for beginners.

Under USPA guidelines: Everybody remains a student until 20 jumps minimum. You can not jump with others unless they are a frefall instructor while on student status.

There are 3-4 ways to learn to skydive.

Static Line with longer and longer frefall delays.
Back in the day it was the least expensive method to get knees in the breeze.

Accelerated Free Fall (AFF) where you first jump with 2 AFF jumpmasters from over 10,000 feet. after you demonstrate altitude awareness and freefall stability you progress to one jumpmaster. It is possible to be cleared for solo freefall after only 7 jumps.

I don't know much about the following but...

‘working’ Tandem instead of the 2 jumpmaster portion of AFF.
Not the typical parachute ride that is common.

There are also methods where vertical windtunnel time is used to develop freefall skills before jumping.