• Emergency Landing
• Co-Pilot Jumped or Fell From a Plane

The unidentified pilot called ATC to request an emergency landing, according to an ATC recording obtained by WRAL: “Emergency, we’ve lost our right wheel. We’d like to speak to Raleigh and make an emergency landing at Raleigh,” said the pilot in the recording.

According to WRAL, a co-pilot jumped or fell from a plane Friday afternoon before it crashed at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport for an emergency landing after having trouble with its landing gear.

During the search, the co-pilot’s body was discovered in a Fuquay-Varina home’s backyard at approximately 7 p.m. Co-pilot did not survive the fall, authorities said.

Officials in North Carolina are attempting to determine how and why the co-pilot of a CA 212 twin ended up in the back yard of a home near Raleigh’s airport just before making an emergency landing there.