How Travis Barker and DJ AM Survived the Fatal Plane Crash that Killed 4
Barker and his close friend and musical partner DJ AM, real name Adam Goldstein, climbed onto the right wing of a flaming Learjet that was to have delivered them and four others to Los Angeles on Saturday.
“Once they slid down the wing, they had to jump on each other to put each other out,” Lieutenant Josh Shumpert, of the South Congaree Police Department, recalled the men telling him after the commuter jet crashed on the runway in Columbia, South Carolina.
Shoeless, in shock and in pain, Barker and Goldstein kept asking for an ambulance and worrying about their friends still inside, said Shumpert, one of the first responders on the scene.
“They were pacing back and forth,” he said. The men did not appear to be burned as badly as he expected.
The crash killed Barker’s two assistants and the plane’s crew.
Shumpert said Goldstein, dressed in a T-shirt and shorts or boxers, was hurt worse.
The lieutenant and Columbia resident Bill Owens were among the first to arrive. A dashboard camera from Shumpert’s cruiser captured the turmoil, and the officer gave his first extended interview yesterday.
“I remember seeing the DJ guy with burns on his arms and the back and top of his head,” Schumpert said.
He did not see burns on Barker, though he acknowledged it was dark.
“I think he had on one sock. Either that, or they were both real nasty. He did not have a shirt on.”
Doctors at an Augusta burn centre said Barker, 32, and Goldstein, 35, have second and third-degree burns. They are likely to recover fully, doctors have said.
“Travis was more visibly shaken than the other guy,” said the 25-year-old lieutenant, who since the crash has come to refer to the drummer by his first name.
Neither Barker, who is covered in tattoos, nor Goldstein said much. Shumpert tried to comfort them, not knowing until an hour later that they were celebrities.
Barker was a member of the multi platinum-selling rock band blink-182. Its biggest album was 1999’s recording Enema of the State which sold more than 5 million copies in the US alone. He is now a drummer with +44 and owns a restaurant and clothing firm.
He is divorced from a former Miss USA, Shanna Moakler. They have two children. Barker then had a romance with Paris Hilton.
Goldstein, who has scratched on albums for Madonna, Papa Roach and Will Smith and owns popular LA club LAX, was previously engaged to reality TV star Nicole Richie, whom was said to have broken down when she heard the news. After his breakup with Richie, Goldstein dated singer and actress Mandy Moore.
He collaborated with Barker in several performances, including the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards.
Neither Shumpert nor fellow witness Owens, an acoustic guitar player himself, saw the musicians escape the plane.
The lieutenant said his account came from the survivors, who have yet to be interviewed by aviation investigators.
Federal aviation investigators said the crew reported hearing a plane tire blow out moments before the plane ran off the runway and over S.C. 302 then burned. But the cause remains under investigation.
The dead, all from Southern California, include pilot Sarah Lemmon, 31, co-pilot James Bland, 52, Barker’s assistant, Chris Baker, 29, and bodyguard, Charles Still, 25.
Owens, a 60-year-old in the cargo delivery business, said he happened upon the crash before rescuers.
“It was straight up 12 o’clock,” Owens said. He was driving his van from Columbia to a friend’s place in Lexington County.
“I saw a ball of fire cross the highway,” he said. “It was so fast I didn’t know what I’d seen. It looked phantomlike.”
As Owens stopped in his traffic lane, he saw two men flailing their arms, trying to put out their burning clothes.
“They’re going in circles. They’re on fire. They’re freaked out.”
Owens dials 9-1-1.
One of the men, whom Owens learned was Goldstein, put out the flames on himself quickly.
“The other guy is running across the highway to get himself to the grass to roll,” Owens said.
But Barker and Goldstein appear to have realized he did not have time to cross the five-lane road.
“The DJ comes over and must be screaming at him, ‘Get out of the clothes.’
“He’s standing there naked. I see all this tattoos.”
In the chaos of orange flames and black smoke, Owens noticed a stream of jet fuel snaking across the road. It had not yet ignited, though the jet was engulfed.
“All I said to them is, ‘Who’s on board?’ All they said to me is, ‘four people.’ There was no conversation. I heard somebody say, ‘Oh my God!”
For a moment, the three thought about trying to help trapped victims. “Where do you go? What do you do?” Owens said.
“No! Forget it! There is nothing we can do.”
He said he saw four cars stopped on the other side of the wreckage.
One person got out. Owens thinks it was a woman. She gave Barker some shorts.
Four days later, Owens said he feels guilty. “I’m concerned that I didn’t react quickly. I reacted cautiously.”
He also is amazed the musicians’ injuries weren’t worse.
“They were so silent. They made no indication they were in pain. I’m surprised there were no broken bones. They were thrown to the ground by a crashing plane.”
Shumpert sees a greater power at work.
“For them to escape, it was God looking out for them. It wasn’t their time.”
A source close to AM (real name Adam Goldstein) told Fox News that while the family is totally devastated, they are staying positive and strong, and they are just deeply thankful that he survived.
“He has text messaged a few very close friends and told them he’s OK,” a source said.
Shanna caught in tear leaving the burn unit
Picture Gallery of Travis Barker, DJ AM and Shanna Moakler
I wish him the best in his recovery, both physically and mentally. He has a long journey ahead of him. I always thought they were such a cute couple I hope this brings them back together. He needs someone to stick by his side right now.
Source: News
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