We can be sure that the FAA and others will be looking into the relationship between the two pilots.

My understanding is that the gear on that plane is not retractable - it's a fixed gear aircraft.

Not sure what there would be to see with respect to gear condition from the rear ramp. Maybe looking out one of the front side doors and wasn't prepared for the slipstream?

NTSB has released prelim report:
https://www.flyingmag.com/ntsb-preliminary-report-sheds-light-on-co-pilot-mid-air-departure/?fbclid=IwAR1hV37WmAVoAzeL1ovWF8dfhdEKnqTz8iwDOptT 4jdcZEhBG4XJmRV00a0

Weird, sounds like the kid jumped.

If he couldn't handle that type of pressure....he surely didn't qualify to be a pilot.

Wow. Thanks for the update.

Wow. Full blown wackadoodle. I don't think we wanted him flying a plane.

So, the plane was damaged in his attempted landing and the guy panics by jumping out of the plane as it diverts to a better-equipped airport. Everyone's threshold is different and he seems to have gone straight to hopelessly hopeless for reasons we'll probably never know.

Suicides have been long known to occasionally be very impulsive and this tragically proves that notion again.

I'm due to take four flights in the next few weeks. If I see the pilot walking down the aisle....I'll know we are in big trouble. :eek:

I don't think this is all that fair.

You never know what baggage people are carrying, or what might make them snap.

That is a really fine way of putting it. That, and he have one side of the story, the PIC's.

I doubt they record internal comms on that aircraft. If they do, I am sure the report is accurate.

Still. Wow.

I would never do that at that low altitude. I would want to enjoy the view for longer than 30 seconds. :)

I was wondering if he felt bad from the hard landing and damage to the aircraft. I guess he felt there was no other way out, except the aft ramp.

Yeah. Or it is possible that the combo of the stress and the turbulence made him ill, and he exercised poor judgement.

The only other thing that makes any sense to me is that he thought for some reason he could sit back there, and fell. But based on the report, it sounds like he snapped.

Maybe he just watched the D.B. Cooper documentary on Netflix? :rolleyes: