February 03,1959 "The Day The Music Died"

 

I wonder what they were singing then?

 

A very sad day with three exceptional musicians on board. Historically, flying has claimed a fair share of musician fatalities.

 

Unfortunately so true.

 

Peace to them All. 🙏
------------

On February 3, 1959, American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson.[1][2] The event later became known as "The Day the Music Died" after singer-songwriter Don McLean referred to it as such in his 1971 song "American Pie".
At the time, Holly and his band, consisting of Waylon Jennings, Tommy Allsup, and Carl Bunch, were playing on the "Winter Dance Party" tour across the Midwest. Rising artists Valens, Richardson, and vocal group Dion and the Belmonts had joined the tour as well. The long journeys between venues on board the cold, uncomfortable tour buses adversely affected the performers, with cases of flu and even frostbite. After stopping at Clear Lake to perform, and frustrated by such conditions, Holly chose to charter a plane to reach their next venue in Moorhead, Minnesota. Richardson, suffering from flu, swapped places with Jennings, taking his seat on the plane, while Allsup lost his seat to Valens on a coin toss. Soon after takeoff, late at night and in poor, wintry weather conditions, the pilot lost control of the light aircraft, a Beechcraft Bonanza, which subsequently crashed into a cornfield, killing all four on board. The event has since been mentioned in several songs and films. Various monuments have been erected at the crash site and in Clear Lake, where an annual memorial concert is also held at the Surf Ballroom, the venue that hosted the artists' last performances.
-----------

Stevie Ray Vaughan had an eerie similar story.

 

As did members of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

 

Ricky Nelson was in route to Dallas for a concert too.

 

Jim Croce, Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves are a few more.

 

So many. Thank God the music Has continued. We wouldn't be where we are without brilliant minds before us. Musicians actual musicians are blessings.

 

The pilot was not experienced. He took off at night in IFR and icing condition with a V Tail Bonanza not certified to fly in icing. Plus, that particular plane is not a big lifter. With 4 adult men onboard, I do not see how see how it could have been within its certified operational limits. What could go wrong?

 

Randy Rhodes of Ozzy Ozbourne fame died in a plane crash too. Although his was more self inflicted. He was flying and goofing off. Decided to buzz the tour bus, clipped his landing gear on it's roof, and crashed into some nearby trees.

 

John Denver met his maker in an experimental

 

I was subscribing to the NTSB Reporter back then and read the report at that time. The issue regarding the difficulty switching tanks once he ran one dry always stuck in my mind. I am referencing an article for you because I thought it was so interesting:

John Denver Plane Crash Inquiry Ends - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)

Same thing for Ricky Nelson. He and several others were passengers in a DC-3. These are tough old planes introduced around 1935. But, the radial engines burn AV Gas and so does the cabin heater. The cabin filled with smoke and the plane was force landed under emergency conditions.

 

Some others, although not singers, by memory:

Don Yenko
Curtis Turner
Audi Murphy

Here is an article regarding the safety of general aviation versus driving a car. General Aviation Safety vs Driving (meretrix.com)

 

Glen Miller's plane disappeared over the English Channel. According to Wikipedia in 1942 he volunteered for the service at the age of 38. He was making 15,000 - 20,000 per week when he volunteered.

Don W

 

The search for the wreckage by Tighar:


https://tighar.org/Projects/projectslist.html

 

Interesting, that was so long ago I forgot what the potential cause was but this makes total sense.

 

Another, although a helicopter crash, claimed the life of Troy Gentry of the country duo Montgomery Gentry. Peace to all!

 

Was Rhodes the actual pilot in that one? I heard about the goofing around bit, but thought there was a pilot other than Rhodes.

 

There's always been some questions with that. There was an actual pilot, but there were reports that he let Rhodes take the stick so that he could impress the band. Lots of conflicting stories on that one. Either way, youth, stupidity and ego are a bad mix when flying.

The same could be said for driving. And all of us have probably been guilty of that over the years.

 

Thanks for the info, I was unaware of that. So sad, the decisions some people make. In this case affecting literally millions of fans worldwide.

 

There is no stick in a 55 Beech Bonanza. Most came with what is called a throw over ("swing over") yoke. No flight controls are in front of the nonflying seat.

It is also has a retractable gear and not a fixed gear. The report that I just read contains a statement from an eye witness. He said several low passes were made over the bus. On the last pass a wing struck the bus causing the aircraft to veer into the garage of a nearby home and burn.

 

Sorry. I did not know that there was going to be a test later.

I'm not a pilot (although I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night). But after 10 years in the navy, most on carriers, I'm just used to them calling it a "stick". The report that I saw years ago, I thought that they said the gear clipped the bus. If I remembered it wrong...oops. Either way Rhodes died of a bad combination of youth, ego and stupidity. And it was a bad day for those who liked hard rock.

 

Thank you for your service. No criticism was intended on this end. I understand your intended use of the term. I pointed out the unusual Beech control configuration to illustrate that in the absence of a conversion it was not equipped with conventional dual controls. So if a non pilot flying in the right was allowed to have the controls the real pilot in command has little control left except for rudder pedals. He would have lost the needed ability to control both the elevator and the ailerons. It is not a good configuration for flight training must less low passes clearly in violation of FAA regulations.