A 911 call was placed by 2 FAA staffers after they got word a pilot of the cargo plane that was about to make an emergency landing had jumped from the plane.
One of the FAA employees is on the call telling the North Carolina 911 dispatcher, "This is from Raleigh Airport ... We have a pilot who was inbound to the field. His co-pilot jumped out of the aircraft. He made impact to the ground and here are the coordinates."
The employee went on to say the co-pilot, 23-year-old Charles Hew Crooks, "jumped out without the parachute, so he might have impact to the ground."
He went on ... "I am sure the pilot is going to be shaken up. I have no idea. He literally just said, 'My pilot just jumped out.'"
And, then there's this ... 'I guess at this point in time, all we can do is recovery. I don't know. I don't know. This is the craziest thing ever."
Presumably, the 911 call was placed so local authorities could recover the body, which they found in a backyard 30 miles from the airport.
The plane, which had landing gear issues, crash-landed ... the pilot suffered minor injuries and was taken to the hospital but released the same day.
There is something bizarre about this investigation ... It's been days, and the pilot who landed the plane still has not been identified and nobody -- the NTSB, FAA, FBI -- has said a word about interviewing him or what he said.
It's unclear if there's a cockpit recording, but since this was a cargo plane it's a good bet there is, although all of the agencies are refusing to say anything specific about what went down.