DJ AM and Travis Barker Survive Deadly Plane Crash
DJ AM and Travis Barker Survive Deadly Plane Crash
Former beau of Nicole Richie and ex-drummer for Blink-182 badly burned
By Matthew B. Zeidman
Doctors say they are doing better
WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. (Hollywood Today) 9/21/08 - In yet another tragic crash involving a private plane, Travis Barker and Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein were rushed to a Georgia hospital in serious condition early Saturday. According to the Associated Press, both entertainers were badly burned, though expected to recover, while two other passengers and both crewmembers were killed.
Air traffic controllers cited by AP claimed the plane sparked as it began takeoff procedure, left the runway, struck several objects at Columbia Metropolitan Airport, including a border fence, and traveled across South Carolina Highway 302 before hitting an embankment.
“‘Oh my God’ was all they were saying,” 60-year-old William Owens, a delivery van driver who witnessed the collision, told the news service. “[Barker and Goldstein] were on fire, and it looked like a dance. They didn’t know what to do.”
Barker and Goldstein, who had finished performing at a free concert Friday evening, were on their way to Van Nuys, Calif. when the accident occurred. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident, though member Debbie Hersman told AP the Learjet’s owner, Global Exec Aviation, had certified the plane airworthy in 2007.
Among the dead were Barker’s assistant and security guard, Chris Baker and Charles Still, and the pilot and co-pilot, Sarah Lemmon and James Bland, AP reported.
Barker, 32, is best known as the drummer for now-defunct band Blink-182, while 35-year-old Goldstein, a DJ, was formerly engaged to television personality Nicole Richie.
Many celebrities have died in private plane crashes over the past decade, including presidential son John F. Kennedy, Jr. (1999), R&B singer Aaliyah (2001) and “Press Your Luck” host Peter Tomarken (2006). Unlike the accident involving Barker and Goldstein, none of these involved jet propulsion.