On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 00:14:17 -0700 (PDT), Jim Beam wrote:
Proof if you fly long enough (pilot) it will KILL you.


4 killed in SC plane crash; drummer, DJ injured

09/20/2008 6:38 PM, AP
Page Ivey

Hours after performing for thousands of South Carolina college
students, former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and celebrity disc
jockey DJ AM were critically injured in a fiery Learjet crash that
killed four people, authorities said Saturday.

Officials said the plane carrying six people was departing shortly
before midnight Friday when air traffic controllers reporting seeing
sparks. The plane hurtled off the end of a runway and crashed through
antennas and a fence. It came to rest a quarter-mile away on an
embankment across a five-lane highway and was engulfed in flames, said
Debbie Hersman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Barker and DJ AM, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, were in critical
but stable condition at a burn center in Augusta, Ga., on Saturday
afternoon, hospital spokeswoman Beth Frits said. Augusta is about 75
miles southwest of Columbia.

Two other passengers — Chris Baker, 29, of Studio City, Calif., and
Charles Still, 25, of Los Angeles — died, as did pilot Sarah Lemmon,
31, of Anaheim Hills, Calif., and co-pilot James Bland, 52, of
Carlsbad, Calif., according to the county coroner. Baker was an
assistant to Barker and Still was a security guard for the musician.

The plane was headed for Van Nuys, Calif. It is owned by Global Exec
Aviation, a California-based charter company, and was certified to
operate last year, Hersman said. The company expressed its condolences
in a statement and said it was working with investigators to determine
the cause of the crash.

At the crash site Saturday, the air was still heavy with the odor of
jet fuel. A trail of black soot led off a runway. The nose of the
aircraft was gone and the roof was missing from two-thirds of the
charred plane.

Hersman said officials recovered the cockpit voice recorder Saturday
but had yet to analyze it or determine whether the recording was in
good condition. She said the weather was clear when the plane took
off, but said no factors had been ruled out.

"We're working as fast as we can to document all the evidence,"
Hersman said. "We have not yet found anything but we are looking at
everything."

Barker and Goldstein had performed together under the name TRVSDJ-AM
at a free concert in Columbia on Friday night. Event sponsor T-Mobile
said their hourlong set ended at about 7:15 p.m.

The show, which included performances by former Jane's Addiction
singer Perry Farrell and singer Gavin DeGraw, drew 10,000 people into
the streets of Five Points, the neighborhood near the University of
South Carolina, Coble said.

Peter Kastis, Farrell's manager, said he and Farrell didn't find out
about the crash until they arrived at the airport Saturday morning to
find it closed.

"I just hugged them hello less than 24 hours ago. I wish I could hug
them now," Kastis said.

Columbia's airport stayed closed Saturday and spokeswoman Lynne
Douglas said she was unsure when it would reopen.

A longtime friend of Bland, the co-pilot, said he flew anti-smuggling
missions 20 years for the U.S. Customs Service and also flew missions
for the Santa Ana Police Department and U.S. Border Patrol.

"He was such an experienced pilot, it had to be something beyond their
control," said Tim Ferrill, a Huntington Beach, Calif., pilot. "He was
an absolutely meticulous pilot, very thorough and not a risk-taker at
all."

Bland was survived by his wife and teenage daughter, Ferrill said.

On Saturday afternoon, several people gathered where the musicians
performed the night before. Some of Barker's fans said they felt drawn
to the spot.

"I hope to God things turn out OK and he gets better. He's a real good
guy," said Dustin Haycraft, 23, of Columbia, who sports two tattoos
modeled on T-shirts the musician designed.

Barker, 32, was one of the more colorful members of the multiplatinum-
selling punk rock band Blink-182, whose biggest album was 1999's CD
"Enema of the State" and sold more than 5 million copies in the United
States alone.

After Blink-182 disbanded in 2005, Barker went on to form the rock
band (+44) — pronounced "plus forty-four." He also starred in the MTV
reality series "Meet the Barkers" with his then-wife, former Miss USA
Shanna Moakler. The show documented the former couple's lavish wedding
and private life. Their later split, reconciliation and subsequent
breakup made them tabloid favorites.

Goldstein, 35, is a popular DJ for hire who at one time was engaged to
Nicole Richie.

He has spun a mix of hip-hop and dance beats for the hottest
nightclubs and had a string of dates set up for the next few weeks. He
reached the peak of his celebrity perhaps during his highly publicized
romance with Richie a few years ago.

DJ AM also dated singer/actress Mandy Moore, and while he became a
gossip favorite for his romances, he drew respect from music
aficionados for his DJ skills.

Barker and Goldstein performed as part of the house band at the MTV
Video Music Awards earlier this month.

___

Associated Press writers Page Ivey in Columbia, Nekesa Mumbi Moody in
New York and Thomas Watkins in Los Angeles contributed to this report.


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