He was 53. When their plane didn't arrive on time, it was reported missing. Impresario and rock concert promoter Bill Graham was killed in a helicopter crash while returning home from a Huey Lewis and the News concertin California. Over 300 celebrities, historical figures, actors, singers, and other famous people have tragically died in airplane accidents, leaving great work behind in many cases. Christian diet guru Gwen Lara, her actor husband Joe and five others were killed on May 29, 2021, after their private jet crashed into a Tennessee lake near Nashville, according to multiple reports. Moreover, major lacerations and crushing can occur as well (via NATO). The helicopter had departed from the Alpine Valley Music Theater for a flight to Chicagos Midway Airport following Vaughans concert appearance with Eric Clapton and others. Unfortunately, Gentry would not know that it would be his last day on earth; the helicopter crashed in a wooded area killing the singer and the pilot. All aboard, including the 21-year-old pilot, Roger Peterson, died. A day into the voyage . However, contact with the pilot was lost ten minutes into the flight. This video is in Loving Memory of those forty celebrities who sadly died in plane crashes. Many people who can afford itoften use choppers and smaller planes to speed up travel times while working and on tour. According to Rolling Stone, country music legend Waylon Jennings was supposed to be on that same flight but was asked by Richardson to give up his seat. Mom-influencer convicted of lying about kids' attempted kidnapping, Texans conclude 2023 NFL Draft with 5 offensive players, 4 defensive, Vietnamese community remembers Fall of Saigon 48 years later. According to Redding's website, the singer was flying in a private plane he had purchased when it crashed into a lake in Madison, Wisconsin. Thanks! Jordan, who wrote "Jim Reeves: His Untold Story," detailed the crash and shared that Reeves was flying during a thunderstorm and lost visual reference. Holly was a rising star in the music industry with songs like "Peggy Sue" and "That'll Be the Day" with his band, The Crickets. How Palm Springs ran out Black and Latino families to build a fantasy for rich, white people, 17 SoCal hiking trails that are blooming with wildflowers (but probably not for long! Right IconThis ranking is based on an algorithm that combines various factors, including the votes of our users and search trends on the internet. As noted in theDaily Mail, The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the pilot, Aya Zobayan, neglected federal safety guidelines and was not qualified to fly in foggy weather conditions with low visibility. His body was never recovered. Celebrities Who Died in Plane Crashes - Facts Verse The plane, a Cessna Citation 501, crashed into Percy Priest Lake around 11 a.m. shortly after taking off from Smyrna Airport bound for Palm Beach, Florida, NBC News reported. Here are some notable cases. Archived post. The airplane took off from Twinwood Airfield, about 50 miles north of London, en route to Paris, where Major Miller, 40, was going to make arrangements to bring his Army band to the continent to entertain American troops. All four people died in the crash. Celebrities who died in a plane crash - YouTube HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. A look at some of them: Nick Adenhart, 22: The Angels right-hander was killed April . Gentry was 50 years old. The future First Lady was just two years old in 1887 when she and her parents started on an Atlantic crossing aboard the White Star liner Britannic. Holly was 22. Another highly unfortunate case was the crash in which three popular celebrities Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Cowboy Copas perished together. According to History, Clemente was known for helping underprivileged youth, especially in his homeland of Puerto Rico, offering baseball clinics and teaching children more than just the rules of the game. Cline was 30. All three had completed a concert in nearby Clear Lake, Iowa. A championship golfer who won 11 PGA Tour events, Stewart was 42 when he died in the crash of a Learjet flying from his home in Florida to a tournament in Texas. Harrison Ford recalled reliving the traumatic moment when he experienced a near-fatal plane crash in 2015 after his "1923" character suffered a serious injury. Plane Crash: 'I Love You and the Kids', Lynyrd Skynyrd's Last Surviving Founding Member, Guitarist Gary Rossington, Dead at 71, Waylon Jennings' Eerie Last Words to Buddy Holly Before His Death: 'I Hope Your Ol' Plane Crashes', Bodies of 4 Who Died in Gulf of Mexico Helicopter Crash Are Recovered, Victims of Ark. Air Force and National Guard jets intercepted the Learjet and reported its windows were fogged or frozen and there was no sign of life. The accident investigation determined that the airplane ran out of fuel because the pilots had neglected to properly check their fuel status. Her body recovered and buried at the All Souls Cemetery in California. His co-pilot was 21 and allegedly not licensed to fly outside the U.S. The New York Yankees catcher was practicing takeoffs and landings with friend Jerry Anderson and flight instructor Dave Hall, when Munson clipped a tree and then struck a tree stump. Sadly, it would be the only No. Jenni boarded a 10-seat airplane on December 9th, 2012. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. He scored the tying touchdown in the San Diego Chargers-New York Giants Snowball Game at the Meadowlands in 1995. He was like a gift from God we worked so well together. Poor communication. The "Rocky Mountain High" folk singer died when he was flying a personal experimental aircraft over Monterey Bay, California, on Oct. 12, 1997. The cause was put down as pilot error; Brown might have experienced night blindness after taking off under bright lights and then ascending into fog and darkness. According to Ranker, it's likely that passengers wouldn't know they're crashing. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. His Cessna Citation burst into flames at a regional Ohio airport. However, an explosion would mean a death that was rapid and pain-free. Moreover, the human body is not designed to withstand high deceleration forces (via HuffPost), which is why the body suffers such brutal injuries that cause a swift death. Veteran Aviator and Student Pilot He Helped Land After She Lost Her Nose Gear Take to the Skies Together, Oklahoma Man Charged After Allegedly Covering Up the Murder of the Woman His Wife Was Having an Affair With, Texas Man Continued His Date After Cops Say He Fatally Shot Someone Over $40, Autistic Artist Sebastian Franco Hopes to See Northern Lights as He Contemplates Going Completely Blind, Lori Vallow Daybell's Sister: 'You Expect Me to Just Keep Believing Without Ever Having a Question?'. Jan. 26, 2020 4:56 PM PT. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Halladay an . Aviation accidents have been the cause of many famous fatalities (see the list Famous People who Died in Plane Crashes ). The Tennessean reported that before trying to land at their final destination, the group stopped in Dyersburg, Tennessee, to refuel. Jennings had given up his plane seat to the Big Bopper, who had the flu and complained the tour bus was too cold and uncomfortable for his large size. Patsy Cline's Final Flight - HistoryNet Six members of the legendary Southern rock band, including frontman Ronnie Van Zant, died when their decades-old leased plane plowed into the swamps of Mississippi after running out of fuel. A photo showed Kennedy Jr. embracing his wife and kissing her on the cheek. She was told she would never walk again but beat the odds. Even though the survival rate for plane crashes is quite high (via Ranker), this doesn't mean a person comes out unscathed if an accident does occur. Traveling by air proved fatal to these popular performers, including Buddy Holly. Marvin's Eyes brings you 35 celebrities who died in aircraft crashes. What films would Heath Ledger or Paul Walker nab the lead roles for if they didn't leave us so soon? Immortalized by Don McLeans song American Pie as The Day the Music Died, the crash of a Beechcraft Bonanza on February 3, 1959, took the lives of 22-year-old Buddy Holly (Peggy Sue), Ritchie Valens (17) and J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper, who was 28). Confirmation bias. Don McLean's 1971 hit "American Pie" was inspired by the plane crash that killed 1950s rock star Buddy Holly. The plane nose-dived shortly after take-off and exploded, about 200 feet from the end of the runway. Reeves was 39 years old. She had been traveling from the Bahamas to Miami after filming the music video for her song "Rock the. Ozzy later told A&E, "I knew instinctively that he was something extra special. Besides having a love for music, Denver was also an avid pilot. However, as of this writing, it has not been released. The singer/songwriter had recently penned "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" when his plane went down in Madison, Wisconsin's Lake Monona in December of 1967. A look at some of them: Nick Adenhart, 22: The Angels right-hander was killed April 9, 2009, when his car was struck by a drunk driver only hours after pitching for the team. Cookie Notice By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Dale Earnhardt Jr. killed in a crash of a Piper Comanche in 1963, https://www.historynet.com/musicians-who-died-in-plane-crashes/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot, All the Light We Cannot See Trailer Wows Without A Word, This A-List Actor Used His Celebrity to Promote Aviation. Bad weather had been making the trip difficult and forced several stops along the way. 10 Lucky Celebrities Who Escaped Disaster - Smithsonian Magazine Aaliyah's life was taken too soon when she was killed in a plane crash on August 25, 2001. The cause of the crash was never determined. After serving as David Bowies guitarist on the 1983 album Lets Dance, Stevie Ray Vaughan, 35, enjoyed a successful solo career as a blues singer/guitarist with his band Double Trouble. It is not known who was flying the plane at the time of the crash. "The Big Bopper," whose real name was J.P. Richardson, was 28. However, if the plane crash proves fatal for those on board, the bodies are grievously injured along the way so much so, that it makes cataloging the injuries incredibly difficult, according to the Journal of Forensic Science (posted at the National Library of Medicine). Hall and Anderson survived the accident, but Munson suffered a broken neck and died of asphyxiation caused by breathing super-heated air and toxic chemicals. So, Jennings rode on Holly's band's tour bus instead. Home life (sometimes associated with stress) Mental overload. Investigators later determined that low fuel, a hard-to-reach handle to switch gas tanks and modifications Denver made to his small plane likely contributed to his crash. If an explosion occurs, it's more likely that passengers will die before the actual crash. The singer, known for hits like Four Walls, took off from Batesville, Arkansas, on July 31, 1964, for a flight to Nashville. Stewart was a three-time major champion, winning the PGA Championship in 1989, and the U.S. Open in 1991 and 1999. Following the deaths of Joe and Gwen Lara in a May 2021 small plane crash, see the other famous names who were lost too soon in plane and helicopter accidents. Twenty-one people were injured, including an apartment resident who was severely burned when her home was engulfed in flames by the plane's impact. "Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: I-T,", Direccin General de Aeronutica Civil of Mexico, Ozzy Osbourne was ousted from Black Sabbath, National Transportation Safety Board's accident report. Singer/songwriter Jim Croce, 30, was a rising star on September 20, 1973, when he performed his last concert at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. The bands fifth album, Street Survivors, had been released only three days before. "The Day the Music Died" also claimed the lives of Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson, better known as The Big Bopper. Why is Frank McCourt really pushing this? According to The Tennessean, the plane was owned by Cline's manager, Randy Hughes, who piloted the plane. Aaliyah Dana Haughton, or simply Aaliyah, was an R&B sensation in the late '90s and early 2000s. Celebrities Who Died In Plane Crashes - Nicki Swift He was 50 years old and survived by his wife Angie and their daughters, Kaylee and Taylor. His wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and her sister Lauren Bessette were also on board when it went down off the shore of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. PerNBC News, the National Transportation Safety Boardwould later reveal that the cause of the crash was due to pilot error. I represent the poor people. There is no doubt that the fear of a plane crash is amongst the most common fears that people harbour. These include: fractured skull; fractured cervical spine; ruptured aorta; ruptured liver and ruptured heart. Country singer Patsy Cline, 30, and three others died in a crash of a Piper Comanche on March 5, 1963. The airplane crashed just after takeoff, killing all aboard. Guitarist Vaughn died early the morning of Aug. 26, 1990, after his helicopter crashed into a ski hill. The death of singer Aaliyah in a 2001 plane crash was just one of many notable celebrity deaths due to a plane crash. Kobe Bryant joins a list of athletes who died young in vehicle or aviation accidents. Rivera and six others were in a Learjet that departed Monterrey, Mexico. One of John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Carolyn Bessett-Kennedy's last public appearances occurred at the White House Correspondents dinner, in May 1999. Kobe's wife, Vanessa Bryant, later sued Los Angeles County for emotional distress over claims that police and firefighters on the scene had taken photographs of the wreckage, including photos of the remains of Kobe and their daughter, and had shared them. Kennedy was 38. The country artist was also with his pianist Dean Manuel, who died in the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash, per reports. Jenni Rivera was an influential Mexican-American banda singer. King World Productions Inc. 2023 Inside Edition Inc. and CBS interactive Inc., Paramount companies. These include choosing a middle seat in the back rows, bracing for impact, and wearing tight-fitting clothing. While on the approach to Madison the airplane plunged into Lake Monona. Interested in music, Nelson launched a musical career, with hits that included Hello Mary Lou and Garden Party. He was killed on December 31, 1985, when his airplane, a 1944 Douglas DC-3 that Nelson had purchased for use as a tour airplane, was attempting an emergency landing due to an interior fire. On July 16, 1999, 38-year-old Kennedy, a licensed pilot, plus his 33-year-old wife Bessette-Kennedy and her sister Lauren Bessette, 34, took off for Martha's Vineyard from a Fairfield, New Jersey, airport. According to NBC News, on September 8, 2017, the men were set to perform a show at an airport resort in New Jersey when Gentry decided to board a helicopter before they were to hit the stage. Bad weather and gusting winds pushed the aircraft into a 223-foot-high voltage tower, where it burst into flames. The world mourned the loss of a sports icon when Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020, in Calabasas, California. But sadly, Redding would never enjoy his accomplishment as he died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. Camille Muffat, 25: The French swimmer died March 9, 2015, while participating in the French reality TV show Dropped. The helicopter she was in collided with another helicopter. As perThe Washington Post, the National Transportation Safety Board reported that the crash was due to pilot error and bad weather, stating that the plane went down because of Kennedy's "failure to maintain control of the airplane during a descent over water at night, which was a result of spatial disorientation.". Plenty of people have survived plane crashes and have lived to tell the tale of their life-altering physical and emotional injuries. However, Hughes believed they would be okay since it was a short flight. In his paper 'Post-Mortem Examinations on Air-Crash Victims' Teare lists the causes of death of 28 people who died when a British European Airways plane flying from Paris to London crashed on landing in thick fog at Heathrow. In addition, the pilot had severe coronary artery disease, with The Montreal Gazette stating that lawyers for the pilot believed he suffered a heart attack, which Croce's wife and family disputed. Read on to learn more about famous people who died in plane crash. In a VH1 "Behind the Music"special, plane crash survivors pianist Billy Powell, drummer Artimus Pyle, and guitarist Gary Rossington recalled initial fears about boarding the plane because of its old age and issues with the engines. One says a British bomber returning home after bad weather had obscured its target jettisoned its bomb load and accidentally blew the Norseman out of the air; another speculated that the Norsemans wings had iced over, causing the airplane to plunge into the Channel. Jerome Brown, 27: The Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle died on June 25, 1992, when his car crashed into a utility pole. Looking Forward to Racing Again After Plane Crash, Award-Winning TV Anchor Dies in Plane Crash While Covering Story on Pilot, Singer Gabriel Diniz Dies in Plane Crash En Route to Girlfriend's Birthday: Reports, See Doomed Helicopter Take Flight Moments Before Crashing in NYC River. Why do celebrities die in plane crashes so often? : r/AskReddit 'If I Leave Here Tomorrow:' Musicians Who Died In Plane Crashes The airplane belonged to country singer Jerry Calhoun. You remember the few cases where it happened and forget the many, many cases where it didn't. If there is any actual data that shows celebrities die more often in plane crashes than ordinary folks--and I'd have to see that to believe it--then it would be the obvious fact that celebrities have to travel by plane WAY more often than your average mope. According to Rolling Stone, Croce and five others, which included guitarist Maury Muehleisen, road manager Morgan Tell, comedian George Stevens, a booking agent, and the pilot, were killed when their plane hit a tree and crashed after taking off from Natchitoches, Louisiana. Copyright 2023 KTRK-TV. As soon as the helicopter took off, the pilot reported engine problems and decided to perform an autorotation. When US Airways Flight 427 began its approach to land in Pittsburgh on September 8, 1994, the Boeing 737 suddenly rolled to the left and plunged 5,000 feet to the ground, killing all 132 people . The NTSB also said the 53-year-old singer didn't have a valid pilot's license because it had been revoked over a previous drunken driving conviction. The very thought of something going wrong mid-air and the plane plunging down to the earth is enough to make some people develop a real fear of flying. In addition,The New York Times reported traces of cocaine and alcohol in the pilot's system. The 80-year-old actor noted his . According to the National Transportation Safety Board's accident report, Osbourne's tour bus driver Andrew Aycock stole an aircraft while the band was in Leesburg, Florida, for a joyride on March 19, 1982. According to the report by the National Transportation Safety Board, The pilot, who was a rock group driver, took an aircraft from the hangar without permission to joy ride members of the group.. About 20 minutes after they left Dyersburg Regional Airport, the aircraft crashed. On May 13, 1948, she died in a plane crash on the way from Paris to the French Riviera. The Learjet carrying the performer lost contact with air traffic controllers after it took off from Monterrey, Mexico, at 3:15 a.m. following Rivera's concert there. Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly and the "Big Bopper". Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Federal investigators look for answers in Kobe Bryant helicopter crash, Plaschke: How can Kobe Bryant be gone? Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. Why So Many Rock Stars Die at 27, Explained by Science - Mic Celebrities Who Died in Plane and Helicopter Crashes - People She was alone in the rain forest for 11 days before she was found. He was uniquely in his own category, and as a vocalist was in a league with the best crooners of the twentieth century like Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Buddy Clark who was his idol. The report stated that the plane had run out of fuel and needed to attempt an emergency landing. The band confirmed Gentry's death in a post on their Facebook page and stated that details surrounding the crash were unknown. Ritchie Valens, a pioneer in rock and rolland popular disc jockey, J.P. Richardson, known as "The Big Bopper," were also killed. At some point during the flight, the aircraft suffered depressurization and veered off the planned course, continuing to fly on autopilot. While commercial and private air travel is generally safe today, some of the famous people on this list were test pilots, who died testing new aircraft technology. Celebrities who died in a plane crash. CNN reported that the aircraft was heavily overloaded, which resulted in the plane crash.