Travis Barker and DJ AM in critical condition in burn unit after fatal plane crash


Musician Travis Barker and celebrity DJ Adam Goldstein, better known as DJ AM, were among the surviving passengers in a private learjet which crashed taking off from a South Carolina airport Friday night. Both Barker and Goldstein are in critical condition in the burn unit of an area hospital. Four other passengers were killed, but their names have not yet been released. Barker and Goldstein were performing along with Perry Farrell, best known as the former lead singer of the band Janes Addiction, and Gavin DeGraw. It is not yet known whether Farrell and DeGraw were on the plane. (Update: according to various accounts, both Farrell and DeGraw are fine and were not on the plane.)

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and a popular disc jockey were critically injured in a Learjet crash in South Carolina that killed four people, authorities said Saturday.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the plane carrying six people was departing shortly before midnight Friday when air traffic controllers reporting seeing sparks. The plane went off a runway and crashed on a nearby road, she said.

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

NBC News reported that Barker, who also starred in MTV reality show “Meet the Barkers”, had performed Friday night at an event alongside Perry Farrell, the former Jane’s Addiction singer, as well as Gavin DeGraw and Goldstein.

‘Terrible and tragic’
It was not clear whether Farrell and DeGraw were also traveling with Barker and Goldstein.

Federal officials confirmed that two crew members and two passengers were killed in the crash.

“It’s absolutely terrible and tragic,” Columbia Mayor Bob Coble said.

Bergen said the Lear 60 was headed to Van Nuys, California. She was unable to confirm the names of those on board.

Barker and Goldstein perform together under the name TRVSDJ-AM.

[From MSNBC]

This is awful news and our hearts go out to their families and to those who lost their lives. Part of me hopes that Farrell and DeGraw were not on the plane, but it’s a tragedy no matter who died in that accident.

We’ll have to stay tuned to this story and see if more information is available.

Update: Here is a photo of the crash and more information from the local news source, WLTX. The plane crashed into an embankment when taking off, and then caught fire. Baholicious notes Perez Hilton says Perry Farrell and Gavin DeGraw were not on the plane, but that has not yet been confirmed. There were two passengers and two crew members who perished in the crash:

An airport spokesperson says a lear jet–a small, private passenger plane–crashed just after take off a little before midnight Friday.

At this time, it appears the plane was attempting to take off, ran off the runway, through a fence, and hit an embankment along Highway 302. The plane then caught fire, and airport emergency crews are working to put out the blaze.

Six people were aboard the airplane. It’s believed four people are dead, and two were taken to the hospital.

CBS News has confirmed that Travis Barker, a drummer who once was a member of the rock bank “Blink 182”, and D.J. AM, who’s real name is Adam Goldstein, were aboard that plane, and survived. They have been taken to the hospital for treatment at the Augusta Burn Center, and they both are in critical condition.

Barker and Goldstein were in Columbia Friday night as part of a concert in Columbia’s Five Points.

Update 2: TMZ is reporting that Perry Farrell was not on the plane. Hopefully Perez Hilton was right and Gavin DeGraw wasn’t on the plane, either.

Update 3: Gavin DeGraw wasn’t on the plane, according to his rep, quoted in People.

The other two passengers who died are said to be males, while the two crewmembers were a female pilot and a male co-pilot.

Update 4: TMZ reports that the pilot and co-pilot have died, Sarah Lemmon and James Bland, along with another male passenger, Charles Still, and Travis Barker’s assistant, Chris Baker, 29, (no relation) who was featured on his reality show Meet the Barkers. Baker had a wife and baby at home.

Barker and Goldstein escaped by opening the door of the plane and jumping out right after it crashed and was already on fire. Barker is said to be burned from the waist down and it is thought that he will survive. Goldstein has suffered serious burns to his face.

Travis Barker and DJ Am are shown at the MTV Movie Awards on 9/7/08

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40 Responses to “Travis Barker and DJ AM in critical condition in burn unit after fatal plane crash”

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  1. Codzilla says:

    What a horrible tragedy. πŸ˜₯

  2. Kaiser says:

    Yeah, it’s a tragedy no matter who died, but if Perry Farrell was on the plane, I’m seriously going to light some candles and listen to Nothing’s Shocking for like ten hours straight.

    Shanna Moekler and the families must be going out of their minds.

  3. cara says:

    This was the first thing I read this morning on Yahoo news and it just breaks my heart. (I didn’t know about Perry Farrell) Travis Barker seems like such a great dad and I will pray that he will make a recovery. I also pray that it wasn’t Perry who was killed as well, although my hearts and prayers are with those who loved the ones who were.

    It’s very sad.

  4. Baholicious says:

    Hi all,

    According to Perez Hilton Perry Farrell was not on the plane.

  5. Kaiser says:

    Really? Because People makes it sound like Perry might have been on the plane.

    http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20227709,00.html

  6. Kaiser says:

    TMZ is now saying Farrell wasn’t on the plane.

    *breathing easier*

  7. Baholicious says:

    Thanks CB: I was remiss in not providing the link. Sorry about that folks.

  8. Syko says:

    That’s horrible. I don’t know anything else to say. My heart goes out to them and their families.

  9. April says:

    See, this is why we don’t get big name acts in Columbia, SC. The airport here is a damn death trap, but I wonder what happened to make the plane run into a fence.

  10. Baholicious says:

    These small planes, I don’t know. When you think of all the artists lost in light aircraft – Buddy Holly, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Aliyah. These planes cannot be overloaded. I do know it was found in Aliyah’s case there were too many people, and too much equipment, on that plane. I’m hoping that isn’t the case here since it seems to have been a takeoff problem.

    Going back to Travis and Sharon’s previous problems, things like this make all that so miniscule. He’s someone’s son and someone’s daddy. My prayers go out to them.

    No matter how much money, status, fame or notoriety we have, we are all human and we are all so very frail in these bodies of ours. The rug can be pulled out from us at any time.

    I just hope they pull through.

  11. sassyspank says:

    burn injuries can be very serious – the biggest risk is infection — even if they survived the crash with no serious internal injuries – succumbing to infection from burns is still a very serious threat. My thoughts are with them . . . I hope they’re getting the best medical care available.

  12. April says:

    They are at the Augusta burn center, which is one of the best in the region.

  13. anony says:

    These guys were used to flying in private jets too b/c of what they do so this was just another flight to them. Very sobering and I hope they pull through. Shanna must be a mess. Sadness.
    A.M. has burns on his face? Oh poor guy. This is just scary. Prayers to all.

  14. Kelly says:

    this is so sad my heart goes out to all families. Travis Barker always seemed like a good guy he was the epitome of dont judge a book by its cover

  15. Baholicious says:

    @CB: Thanks πŸ˜‰

    There’s Good people here.

  16. A.J. says:

    I work in the aviation industry (currently on maternity leave) and know just how scary and horrifying these events can be firsthand, having been through numerous realistic drills that emulate this and similar accident scenarios… my thoughts and prayers are with the deceased and the injured and their loved ones.

    Any word on what caused the accident? If it’s another story of a smaller Learjet being overweight, that really bothers me… maybe I’m jumping the gun but with the little information given thus far it just sounds to me like the aircraft was too heavy to lift off the runway and slammed into the fence. We calculate and double-check a flight manifest each and every time for a reason! Accidents due to being overloaded should not happen, simply put.

  17. Cari says:

    How horrible. πŸ™

  18. AsItIs says:

    Thoughts and best hopes for everyone.

  19. Mairead says:

    Such a horrible tragedy, my thoughts with the family of the deceased especially and to DJ AM and Travis Barker – I hope their injuries aren’t as serious as they sound and they make a speedy recovery.

    I was interested to hear your insight AJ – if the plane was overloaded would have a huge bearing on events. Personally i love planes and would love to learn to fly though). But I would have a healthy respect for small, privately-owned planes. With commercial airplanes they must go through constant maintenance.

    Factor that in with a pilot who may not have been that familiar with the runway so any tiny problem, such as overloading, could leave them at such a disadvantage if anything went wrong. I suppose we’ll know the full story in a few months. Not that it’ll bring back the deceased – but hopefully if there are any lessons to be learnt, it’ll mean avoiding such a tragedy in the future.

    Oh and personally, I didn’t find your post remotely entertaining Mike Tyson.

  20. xiaoecho says:

    DJAM is so gorgeous, how horrible to be burned on the face. So fukcing fukcing painful too πŸ™

  21. CKC says:

    I live in Columbia, and I was around the airport when it happened. I could hear it. It sounded like a huge metal monster had just ripped it’s arms off and died.
    My thoughts go out to everyone’s families.
    Oh, and CB, thank you for choosing WLTX instead of WIS to get information from. They’re a lot more reliable. To me, of course.

  22. MsTriste says:

    Burns are horribly painful. And the more your body is burned, the worse your chance for survival, so that might be why they are saying Barker “might” survive. If 50% of his body is burned, he’s in bad shape. And poor DJ AM – a facial burn could be really disfiguring. So sad.

  23. Nichole Gaines says:

    To Mike Tyson – How would you or your family feel if that was you in a hospital lying there burned after being in plane crash & one of two survivors. And then to see or hear about some in-sensitive ashole making jokes! Get a heart & some class. Show respect!!!! people died who were someone Father or mother! peoples loved ones are grivening the loss of life & you are making sick jokes! GO 2 HELL!!!!! 😈

  24. anony says:

    Interesting point AJ- I think Aliyah’s craft was a twin Cessna? A little smaller. I know nothing about planes but I would have a (probably false) sense of security taking a larger plane (i.e. Learjet) over a Cessna.

    Doesn’t it seem like a lot of planes are skidding taking off/having crashes on the runway lately? I’ve read several happening in the news recently from commercial airliners.

    Someone mentioned the pain of burns. It’s like no other injury- a friend once burned his chest and he told me he wished he was in a coma it was so bad.
    I didn’t know they are still in such danger though even though they’re alive with chance for infections and stuff. I believe the more good intentions/prayers they get the better they will do.

  25. Nichole Gaines says:

    THANK YOU 4 DELETING MIKE TYSON’S COMMENT! I THINK I SPEAK 4 EVERYONE THIS IS A TRAGIC ACCIDENT! MY THOUGHTS & PRAYERS ARE WITH ALL THE FAMILIES! πŸ™

  26. Mairead says:

    Horrible as it is to think about, your point probably makes sense anony, as the skin has all of these nerves and links to pain receptors precisely so that you can feel pain and get away from the source of the pain.

    Nicole, I agree with your statement, but it is considered rude to write wholly in block caps as its really difficult to read.

    Anyway, as I said earlier, we can only hope that their condition is being exaggerated, and that they make a speedy recovery.

  27. Bodhi says:

    Holy shit! I was busy all day & didn’t hear about this. How awful

  28. Starla says:

    So sorry to hear about this tragedy & prayers go out to all families & friends.Condolences to the famlies whose lives were lost.
    Big wake-up call (to me anyway) celebs are not invincible. They do not lead a charmed life because of their fame.

  29. UpNRisingStar says:

    I can’t believe all of this! My heart was broken thinking for even a slight time that Gavin DeGraw may have died. He’s a WONDERFUL person and I’m glad he’s alright.

    My heart continues to break for the families of all that are involved. Go bless!

  30. All our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and there families, This is a tragedy. so Sad:( πŸ™

  31. Sarah says:

    That’s really a tragedy. My thoughts go out to the deceased, the injured and their families. Burn injuries are really hard to deal with. And yet again, we see how fragile live is and that money can’t save you from such a horror…

  32. say it isnt true says:

    ive read on tmz in comments, that people are hearing travis just died…i hope this is a sick joke….

  33. Shay says:

    My prayers go out to all of the to all involved.

  34. Shay says:

    I haven’t seen any reports that Travis has died. Searched AP and other news sources and nothing like that has been reported.

  35. verock says:

    doooont travis barker doont why why? πŸ˜₯ 😐

  36. I choose me says:

    Don’t know what to say except I hope they both pull through. RIP to those who died and my prayers and best wishes go out to their families.

  37. kelly says:

    My prayers are with all involved. So tragic at such young ages……Gods speed!

  38. caribassett says:

    πŸ™ This is awful. Prayers for all involved. really shocking πŸ™

  39. notprfect says:

    πŸ˜₯

  40. Sarah says:

    This was terrible, Im so glad they are ok now!