So many sang about “the day the music died” on February 3, 1959, when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and JP “The Big Bopper” Richardson were killed in a plane crash.
Don McLean coined the term in the 1971 hit “American Pie.”
The song about the decadence of the ’60s begins with the deaths of three young musicians, “the happy end of the ’50s,” he told Forbes Magazine.
Investigators point to rapidly changing winter weather conditions that were not communicated to inexperienced pilots as the cause of the crash that left a tragic mark in music history.
“It is believed that shortly after takeoff, pilot Peterson entered an area of pitch blackness and an area with no definite horizon; that the snow conditions and the lack of horizon (ground visual) required him to rely solely on the flight instruments for the aircraft’s attitude and orientation,” wrote the Civil Aeronautics Board charged with investigating the crash.
On a tough bus ride on the Winter Dance Party tour, the musician is getting sick
The musicians just finished their “Winter Dance Party” tour at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, on the evening of February 2nd.
The 24-day tour starts in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and goes through Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa in the winter.
So many sang about “the day the music died” on February 3, 1959, when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and JP “The Big Bopper” Richardson were killed in a plane crash. Fox weather
“Organisationally, the tour was a complete disaster. The shows are often scheduled hundreds of miles from each other as they zigzag through one of the worst winters the Midwest has seen in decades, in the worst transportation available,” the dance hall’s website says.
“The musicians were crammed into a galloping bus to perform in small ballrooms and theaters, and by February 1, Carl Bunch (Holly’s drummer) had left with cold feet.”
Holly, the 22-year-old tour operator, had enough of a bus that broke down in freezing temperatures and chartered a four-seater plane to get to the next night’s show in Morehead, Minnesota, according to the Civil Aeronautics Board Accident Report.
Fargo, North Dakota, is the closest airport.
Investigators point to rapidly changing winter weather conditions that were not communicated to inexperienced pilots as the cause of the crash that left a tragic mark in music history. Fox weather
The musician asked his guitarist, Tommy Allsup, and his bassist, Waylon Jennings, to join.
The tour included Valens, Richardson, Dion and the Belmonts, Frankie Sardo, Jennings, Allsup and the Bunch.
The 17-year-old Valens had never been in a small plane before and asked Allsup to sit down, according to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.
The two flipped a coin, and Valens “won” the seat.
Holly, the 22-year-old driving force behind the tour, had had enough of the bus breaking down in freezing temperatures and chartered a four-seater plane to get to the next night’s show in Morehead, Minnesota. Fox weather
Jennings gave up his seat to Richardson, who had the flu, according to the accident report.
Jennings told the Country Music Hall of Fame that his last conversation with Holly will always haunt him, even if it was said in jest.
After Jennings tells Holly she won’t be on the plane, Holly says, “I hope your confined bus freezes again.”
Jennings replied, “I hope your ole plane crashes.”
The musician asked his guitarist, Tommy Allsup, and his bassist, Waylon Jennings, to join. Fox weather
Deteriorating winter weather conditions
Holly, Valens and Richardson arrived at the airport shortly after 1:30 am
It was a brutal 15 degrees, and the wind was blowing around 36 mph at the Mason City, Iowa airport.
A cold front fell from western Minnesota through Nebraska, with a secondary cold front across North Dakota, according to the report.
Widespread snow is ahead of the front, along with gusty winds.
Jennings told the Country Music Hall of Fame that his last conversation with Holly will always haunt him, even if it was said in jest. Fox weather
“Temperature and moisture content are such that moderate to heavy and precipitation is present in the clouds along the route,” the report said.
Air traffic controllers gave 21-year-old pilot Roger Peterson weather reports several times from 5:30 p.m. until takeoff.
The pilot had been flying for about five years as a contract commercial pilot and flight instructor for the company that owned the plane, headed by Hubert Dwyer.
“He was a young married man who made his living by flying,” the accident report said.
Air traffic controllers gave 21-year-old pilot Roger Peterson weather reports several times from 5:30 p.m. until takeoff. Fox weather
Two guards gave Peterson a weather report, including conditions in Mason City and Fargo, along with a waypoint.
Unfortunately, the NWS issued two “Flash Advisories” during the night, indicating worsening conditions.
“Any communicator could not recall bringing this lightning advisory to Pilot Peterson’s attention. Mr. Dwyer said that when he accompanied Pilot Peterson to ATCS (Air Traffic Control Service), no information was given to them indicating instrument flight weather would be found along that path.”
Peters is only certified for Visual Flight Rules, or clear weather, not Instrument Flight Rules, flying in clouds.
The pilot had been flying for about five years as a contract commercial pilot and flight instructor for the company that owned the plane, headed by Hubert Dwyer. Fox weather
He passed the written exam for instrument flight but failed the practical flight check nine months before the crash.
He logged 52 hours of instrument practice, all taken with a conventional artificial horizon instrument, the gyro horizon.
The gyro horizon, now called an attitude indicator, shows the pilot if he is flying parallel to the earth, up or down.
The indicator in the ill-fated Beechcraft Bonanza is a different type of indicator, the attitude gyro.
Unfortunately, the NWS issued two “Flash Advisories” during the night, indicating worsening conditions. Fox weather
“Exactly the opposite of what is depicted by conventional artificial horizons,” according to the accident report.
The report indicated that the ATCS was responsible for providing the pilot with all available information and for interpreting the data if requested.
“At Mason City, at the time of takeoff, the barometer was falling, ceilings and visibility were decreasing, light snow had begun to fall, and surface winds and gusts were so high that severe weather could be expected during the estimated two-hour flight,” continue the report.
The Analysis section of the accident report paints a tragic picture.
The report indicated that the ATCS was responsible for providing the pilot with all available information and for interpreting the data if requested. Fox weather
“There is evidence that weather briefings consist only of current weather readings at the en route terminal and the terminal forecast for the destination,” the report said.
“The failure of the communicator to draw this advisory to the pilot’s attention and to emphasize its importance may cause the pilot to underestimate the severity of the weather condition.”
Air traffic controllers and Dwyer saw the plane take off around 1am.
Dwyer told investigators that the plane took off normally and climbed.
After about 5 miles, the flaming tail of the plane gradually descended and then disappeared. Fox weather
After about 5 miles, the flaming tail of the plane gradually descended and then disappeared.
Air traffic tried to contact the pilot by radio but there was no answer.
The accident
It wasn’t until 9 a.m. that Dwyer, flying overhead looking for the plane, discovered it was under 4 inches of snow.
The littered 540-foot section of the field is isolated and the main debris rests on a barbed wire fence.
The pilot was found in the plane, but the three musicians were thrown clear.
Investigators found evidence that the plane was set up for cruise and was flying at an appropriate high speed, 165-170 mph.
But, the plane was actually descending at 3,000 feet per minute and perpendicular to the ground when it hit.
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The coroner’s report said the plane skidded and/or rolled 570 feet before a guardrail stopped it.
“The shape of the mass of debris approached the ball with one wing protruding diagonally from one side,” the coroner’s report said.
The analysis showed that strong winds and turbulence would cause the rate of climb and instrument roll to fluctuate “so that the interpretation of these instruments as far as attitude control is difficult for an inexperienced pilot like Peterson.”
“He can become confused and think that he is making an uphill turn when in fact he is making a downhill turn,” the report concluded.
The coroner said that parts of each body had been frozen during 10 hours of exposure at about 18 degrees.
The tour manager had to tentatively identify each body by clothing.
Maria Elena Holly told the Australian Financial Review, 60 years after the crash, that she learned about it on TV.
The shock caused her to miscarry her 6-month-old baby with her husband. He missed the funeral.
She was supposed to attend the tour but canceled when she found out she was pregnant, the review said.
He said he was afraid of small planes and that he would never have taken the flight if she had been with him.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
