why do celebrities die in plane crashes

As perBillboard, there was speculation about why the plane went down by the Mexican General Civil Aviation Administration,including the conditions of the plane, with it being over 43 years old, and the ages of the pilot and co-pilot. In retrospect, given that most celebrities travel today in private Gulf-streams or chartered jets, the idea of a major star traveling in a single-engine plane seems almost ludicrous. After his death, Croce's song "Time in a Bottle" reached the No. Per Ranker, 95% of people who crash while on a plane survive. Copyright 2023 KTRK-TV. Nonetheless, plane crashes do happen. Redding was just 26 years old. There is no doubt that the fear of a plane crash is amongst the most common fears that people harbour. Miller, pilot John Morgan and another passenger, Colonel Norman Baessell, were never seen again. After shooting a music video, she and eight other people had boarded the chartered Cessna for a flight from the Bahamas to Florida. However, contact with the pilot was lost ten minutes into the flight. Sadly, the singer made the mistake of flying into more stormy weather and did not level his wings as he made a crucial turn. Many people who can afford itoften use choppers and smaller planes to speed up travel times while working and on tour. Country singer Patsy Cline, 30, and three others died in a crash of a Piper Comanche on March 5, 1963. 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. Of the seven passengers, the only survivor was 20-year-old Ben Cauley, one of the musicians. She suddenly found herself falling through the air while still strapped in her seat. It was originally planned for Waylon Jennings and Tommy Allsup to be on that plane, but Waylon gave up his seat to J.P. because he had the flu and Tommy Allsup and Ritchie Valens tossed a coin for the other seat with Valens "winning" the toss. Contact was lost about 60 miles away, Mexico's transportation ministry said in a statement. It's important to remember that statistically, traveling by plane is safer than other modes of transportation, like driving or cycling. As soon as the helicopter took off, the pilot reported engine problems and decided to perform an autorotation. 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. Aaliyah - Aug. 25, 2001. The deceased were Ronnie Van Zant, the band's lead vocalist, guitar player and vocalist Steve Gaines and his sister, backup singer Cassie Gaines. The pilot was also killed in the crash. The famed pop singer of hits such as "Rocky Mountain High" died when he plowed his private plane into California's Monterey Bay. Montgomery continued to perform under the band's name despite Gentry's death. The flight flew out of Greenville, South Carolina, en route to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when it crashed near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Cline, Hughes and musicians Harold Franklin Hankshaw Hawkins and Llody Estel Cowboy Copas were all killed. After Lewis agreed, Graham hopped back on the helicopter to return to his Bay Area home. After the plane encountered intense levels of turbulence, it fell nose-first in a ravine in the Cvennes Mountains. The date of the musicians' deaths has been dubbed "the day music died.". Tragic events like devastating car crashes to overdoses have resulted in way too many talents leaving the earth way before their time. On March 19, 1982, Randy Rhoads, guitarist for rocker Ozzy Osbourne, died in the crash of a Beechcraft Bonanza in Leesburg, Florida. Rhoads, 25, was a passenger in the airplane, which was flown by Andrew Aycock, who drove a bus for the band. Many of these famous people who died in plane crashes were taken too soon and had a promising career and life in front of them. Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, at a 2018 swimming championship in Irvine, California. 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 three were part of a traveling entourage called the Winter Dance Party, which also included Waylon Jennings. He was only 22 years old when he died, but Holly left behind a lasting legacy, best known for songs like "Peggy Sue" and "Oh Boy!" According to The New York Times, the songstress and eight others boarded a small plane from the Bahamas' Abaco Islands after they wrapped up the music video for "Rock The Boat." It's incredibly saddening when a celebrity dies young, and fans can't help but wonder what could have been if they were still around. 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. When their plane didn't arrive on time, it was reported missing. All Rights Reserved. On Sept. 8, 2017, Gentry was traveling in a helicopter to his scheduled concert performance in New Jersey when the aircraft crashed. 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. Plenty of people have survived plane crashes and have lived to tell the tale of their life-altering physical and emotional injuries. 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.. One of the most shocking plane crash incidents was the one that led to the deaths of rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson in 1959. and our 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. Mexican authorities confirmed that the wreckage of the small plane had been found in Nuevo Leon state, and there were no survivors among the seven people believed to be on board. Owners of the airport warned Hughes from flying as they would be going through severe weather. Who is the most famous person who died in a plane crash? John Denver is remembered for his 1970s hits like "Take Me Home, Country Road," "Rocky Mountain High," and "Thank God I'm a Country Boy." Cline was on her way back to her home in Nashville, Tennessee, after performing in Kansas City, Kansas. Immediately after takeoff from Natchitoches Regional Airport, the airplane hit a pecan tree. Soul singer Otis Redding, 26, died in the crash of his chartered twin-engine Beechcraft 18 on December 10, 1967. Steve Olin, 27: Indians pitcher was killed March 23, 1993, when the boat he was in collided with a dock in Clermont, Fla. Teammate Tim Crews was also killed in the accident. A Hall of Fame pitcher who played for the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies, Roy Halladay crashed his IconA5 amphibious plane into the Gulf of Mexico near his Florida home. Holly was 22. 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. It seems impossible to believe he has died at age 41. According to The New York Times, a Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft Holly boarded crashed into a farm minutes after departing from Iowa's Mason City Airport in Iowa. However, 20 people onboard managed to survive, per Rolling Stone. Now for some of the non statistical potential explanations: The quality of pilots for these famous people is lower, The pilots are forced to fly through worse weather conditions that the average private jet would be required to so that these famous people can keep their schedule (assuming of course that they force the pilots to fly through worse conditions more than a corporate person would). Theories abound about what happened. It eventually went down in a field in South Dakota. Rhoads and makeup artist Rachel Youngblood accompanied Aycock aboard a second flight when the plane's wing hit the tour bus, hit a tree, and ultimately crashed into a home, where it caught on fire. Jenni Rivera. There was no communication from the flight, prompting F-16 jets to be scrambled to the wayward aircraft. But sadly, Redding would never enjoy his accomplishment as he died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. The cause of the fire was believed to be a defective heater. Marciano retired in 1956 with a 49-0 record. EDIT: http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/Entertainment/banda-supestar-jenni-rivera-dies-plane-crash/story?id=17919621#.UMZTHIPedNo, http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/Entertainment/banda-supestar-jenni-rivera-dies-plane-crash/story?id=17919621#.UMZTHIPedNo. The three had just finished a gig in Clear Lake, Iowa, and were headed to their next concert in Minnesota when their chartered Beechcraft Bonanza encountered bad weather and crashed into a frozen corn field. After rocker Ozzy Osbourne was ousted from Black Sabbathin 1979, it wasn't long before he found success as a solo star and gained an incredible guitarist named Randy Rhoads. She had completed a music video shoot on the islands. The more you fly, the more likely you are to be in a plane crash. All Rights Reserved. According to People, the group departed on Kennedy's plane from New Jersey and were headed to Martha's Vineyard Airport in Massachusetts when, at around 9:40 p.m., the aircraft crashed into the ocean. Stewart was a three-time major champion, winning the PGA Championship in 1989, and the U.S. Open in 1991 and 1999. All aboard, including the 21-year-old pilot, Roger Peterson, died. 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. Two months later, the son of slain President John F. Kennedy, his wife, and her sister Lauren Bessette were tragically killed when Kennedy's plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, on July 16, 1999. Muffat won a gold, silver and bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics in London. The bands fifth album, Street Survivors, had been released only three days before. Jordan, who wrote "Jim Reeves: His Untold Story," detailed the crash and shared that Reeves was flying during a thunderstorm and lost visual reference. He never arrived. Pilot error was the most likely cause of the crash. 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. Jenni died at the age of 42. Privacy Policy. Rolling Stone reported that one of the last songs Cline recorded before her death was"Sweet Dreams,"which became a Top 10 Hit on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. On Christmas Eve 1971, 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke and her mother were flying over the Peruvian rain forest when the plane was hit by lightning (via BBC). According to The Washington Post, it was believed that the plane was first missing as the flight plan was not established, making it harder to find its whereabouts. The 80-year-old actor noted his . The popular swing-era bandleader disappeared over the English Channel on December 15, 1944, while a passenger on a single-engine UC-64-A Norseman. Aailyah had released three best-selling albums at the time of her death and was married briefly (and illegally) to her mentor, rapper and producer R. Kelly, at the age of 15. Surviving band members suffered serious injuries and years of rehabilitation. Brown was a first-team All-Pro twice. According to Billboard, a posthumous album featuring artists like Drake and Chris Brown was coming out in January 2022. 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. She broke her collarbone, had deep cuts, and ruptured a ligament in her knee, but survived. Aaliyah's life was taken too soon when she was killed in a plane crash on August 25, 2001. One of his band members survived; Redding was just 26 years old. Rocky Marciano. Celebrities who died in a plane crash. "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. Read on to learn which mega stars' lives were cut short after they died in plane crashes. 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). Allison won 19 races, including the 1992 Daytona 500. The two were on a sight-seeing trip before a scheduled concert. 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. The singer behind "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" was on board a chartered Beechcraft aircraft when it crashed into a tree on take off in Natchitoches, Louisiana, on Sept. 20 1973. She had been traveling from the Bahamas to Miami after filming the music video for her song "Rock the. Dates come in no particular order. Answer (1 of 7): There are at least three reasons why famous people are more likely to die in flight, and one reason why there are not as much more likely as you might think they are. 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. I represent the poor people. According to The Tennessean, the plane was owned by Cline's manager, Randy Hughes, who piloted the plane. The plane crashed into the ocean shortly after takeoff from Puerto Rico with Clemente and three others onboard. He was 35 years old. 1 hit. The Tennessean reported that before trying to land at their final destination, the group stopped in Dyersburg, Tennessee, to refuel. Some of these injuries might include disintegration, dismemberment, and detachment of the skin. Marvin's Eyes brings you 35 celebrities who died in aircraft crashes. Gentry, who was one half of the country duo Montgomery Gentry, died in a helicopter crash in Medford, New Jersey, on Sept. 8, 2017. Country singer Jim Reeves, 40, died in a crash similar to Clines, except in this case Reeves was flying his own airplane. She was alone in the rain forest for 11 days before she was found. Don McLean's 1971 hit "American Pie" was inspired by the plane crash that killed 1950s rock star Buddy Holly. Twenty others, however, survived the crash. 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. After taking off from Dyersburg, Tennessee, into rain, clouds and darkening skies, the airplane crashed to earth in the countryside about 75 miles west of Nashville. It was his last touchdown. flights become a regular part of life for traveling famous people, as they move from . Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy's wife, was on the tour bus and wrote about the devastating crash in her autobiography, "Sharon Osbourne Extreme." According toInsider, there are several ways to increase your chance of surviving if a plane crash does occur. The aircraft was smaller than the one they took to the . What films would Heath Ledger or Paul Walker nab the lead roles for if they didn't leave us so soon? The son of the 35th U.S. president, Kennedy was behind the controls of a Piper Saratoga light aircraft that had departed New Jersey on July 16, 1999. 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. Thurman Munson, 32: The Yankees catcher died Aug. 2, 1979, when his plane crashed while he was practicing takeoffs and landings. An active philanthropist, 38-year-old Pittsburgh Pirates player Clemente was traveling to Managua, Nicaragua, to bring aid and supplies to the country after a destructive earthquake. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Jenni boarded a 10-seat airplane on December 9th, 2012. John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, 1999. However, the plane and bodies ofKennedy Jr, his wife, and his sister-in-lawwere later located on July 21. 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.". Rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd faced tragedy when their plane crashed on October 20, 1977. According to PBS, the chances of an average American dying in a plane crash are 1 in 11 million. 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. She still has seat belt marks on her legs. The plane crashed in Toluca soon after taking off and left no survivors. The pilot of his chartered Beechcraft E18 was Robert N. Elliott, who had to make most of the three-mile trip to the airport on foot because he couldnt get a cab. Jerome Brown, 27: The Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle died on June 25, 1992, when his car crashed into a utility pole. A pitcher for the New York Yankees, Lidle died after his plane crashed into a New York City apartment building on Oct. 11, 2006. The number of fatal plane crashes had dropped significantly in the last few decades, and even more so with the 2020 pandemic, due to a decrease in international travel (via HuffPost). Bad weather had been making the trip difficult and forced several stops along the way. The report stated that the plane had run out of fuel and needed to attempt an emergency landing. He was 35. 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. According to the aircraft's accident report, the plane was flying out from Greenville, South Carolina, and was bound for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when it crashed into a wooded area of Gillsburg, Mississippi. Read on to learn more about famous people who died in plane crash. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. 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. Killed were Graham, his girlfriend, Melissa Gold, and his pilot and advance man Steve Kahn. Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly and the "Big Bopper". There have also been a number of starswho boarded an aircraft not knowing they would never make it to their destination. SingerTroy Gentry and Eddie Montgomery made up the country music duo Montgomery Gentry and scored numerous hits like "If You Ever Stop Loving Me," "Something to be Proud Of," and "Roll with Me." Reeves was at the controls of his single-engine Beechcraft 35-B33 Debonair. She was traveling from the city of Monterrey to a concert in Mexico. 8. The pilot, who was 78, was reportedly not allowed to fly a plane of that weight. The group was bound for Miami, Florida, when their plane crashed immediately after taking off from Marsh Harbour Airport, killing everyone on board. Sometimes, the remains are found nowhere near the rest of the plane. Denver, 53, was an experienced pilot (although his license had been suspended following incidents of drunk driving) but investigators determined he had probably crashed after unsuccessfully attempting to switch fuel tanks in flight, a maneuver that may have led him to inadvertently hit the rudder pedal by mistake, leading to a loss of control. While the common man can avoid plane travel, its not a luxury celebrities can afford! Ritchie Valens, a pioneer in rock and rolland popular disc jockey, J.P. Richardson, known as "The Big Bopper," were also killed. Ozzy later told A&E, "I knew instinctively that he was something extra special. The Roberto Clemente Foundation stated that the plane was overloaded, with a wrongful death suit filed by Clemente's wife, Vera Zabala Clemente, stating that the plane experienced engine failure before it went down. Just before the crash, she had completed a concert. However, if you crash during take-off or landing, the chances of surviving are higher than 50%. Aviation accidents have been the cause of many famous fatalities (see the list Famous People who Died in Plane Crashes ). Valens was just 17 years old. Traveling by air proved fatal to these popular performers, including Buddy Holly. Moreover, major lacerations and crushing can occur as well (via NATO). 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. As historian Larry Jordan recalled toBillboard, "When he became successful, and he had the freedom to experiment, he began gravitating toward the pop world. Everyone died in the crash. Before his death, Clemente was a two-time World Series champion and was named the World Series MVPfollowing the team's second World Series win against the Baltimore Orioles in 1971. Powell shared, "It felt like being in a solid steel garbage can rolling down a hill, hit with a hundred baseball bats, head, body, ankles, you name it." 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? Her friend and teammate, Alyssa Altobelli, was also on board with her parents, Keri and John, who was the head baseball coach at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, according to family statements. The baseball legend died on Dec. 31, 1972, while he was en route to help Nicaraguan earthquake victims. Here is a list of other athletes and celebrities who died in air tragedies. I've tried coming up with a few explanations, but I lack the statistical ability to really explain it: These crashes are common, but because these people are famous they stick out like sore thumbs, The people who fly in private jets are typically famous people, so when a private plane crashes there is a higher probability that one of the passengers will be famous (although this is interesting because there are far more private jets that transport corporate people like my dad and myself and their crash rate is significantly lower, so there are a few problems with this explanation). Died October 20, 1977, age 29, in a plane crash outside of Gillsburg, Mississippi when the plane ran out of fuel. 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. His co-pilot was 21 and allegedly not licensed to fly outside the U.S. Singer, dancer and actress Aailyah (full name Aaliyah Dana Haughton) was only 22 when she died in the crash of a twin-engine Cessna 402 on August 25, 2001. The accident investigators blamed pilot error. 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. Tim Crews, 31: Cleveland Indians pitcher, who had pitched for the Dodgers the previous season, was killed March 23, 1993, when the boat he was in collided with a dock in Clermont, Fla. Teammate Steve Olin was also killed in the accident. Denver died at 53 when his experimental aircraft crashed into Monterey Bay, California, on October, 12, 1997, per theAP. The latter five victims were all from Brentwood and were members of Lara's church, according to News Channel 5. The hard-driving music mogul had gone to the concert to secure Lewis' participation in a benefit for victims of the massive Oakland Hills fire in 1991. 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. The airplane belonged to country singer Jerry Calhoun. 1 spot on the Billboard charts, making it his second and last No. Air Force and National Guard jets intercepted the Learjet and reported its windows were fogged or frozen and there was no sign of life. This is one of the most dangerous reasons plane crashes, and is usually the reason why most airliners crash. 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. Singer-songwriter John Denver, whose hits included Country Roads and Rocky Mountain High, died on October 12, 1997, in the crash of a home-built aircraft he had recently purchased. Unfortunately, the aircraft went down too fast and began hitting the tops of trees until it eventually crashed and shattered into pieces. Snowstorm by Eating Snow and Croissants for a Week: 'A Miracle', died in a helicopter crash in Medford, New Jersey, Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington. The NTSB later determined the probable cause of the crash was pilot error and that Kennedy may have become disoriented while flying over water at night. 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. 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