Former Fairfield Man Was Person Who Fell From Plane In North Carolina

FAIRFIELD, CT — The 23-year-old man who fell from a plane and died in North Carolina last month grew up in Fairfield.

Charles Hew Dalrymple Crooks, known as Charlie, attended Osborn Hill Elementary School and Roger Ludlowe Middle School, according to his obituary.

He was the co-pilot in a small plane on July 29 when he died near Fuquay-Varina, NC. Initial news stories said that he appeared to jump from the plane, but TMZ reports that instead, he fell while trying to check on the plane's damaged landing gear.

Crooks took flying lessons at Three Wing Aviation in Stratford, and by 2017 he was soloing. He later qualified to be a Commercial Pilot and Certified Flight Instructor.

Additionally, Crooks achieved a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwan Do. He also completed Basic Camp at Fort Knox as part of the ROTC Bison Battalion at his alma mater, Bucknell University.

From his obituary:

Charlie is survived by his parents Hew and Kate, brother Crawford (22), his sister Mary (20) of Fairfield, CT, his maternal grandmother Mary Zipser of Savannah, GA and his paternal grandparents Art and Mary Jane Crooks of Lethbridge, Alberta, his aunts Melissa Zipser Murray, Claire Crooks Goodall (George), and uncle Morgan Crooks (Aimee), first cousins Katherine and Elizabeth Murray, Finn, Sydney, Grady, and Tilly Goodall, Riley and Andrew Crooks.

A funeral service is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday 11 at Christ & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church on Church Lane in Westport. A reception will follow the service in the church's Branson Hall. In lieu of flowers, Charlie's family requests that donations be sent to Above the Clouds (abovethecloudskids.org).