Friday, January 31, 2020

The loss of Buddy Holly, part 4








A pistol found and the exhumation of J.P. Richardson....

A few weeks after the Buddy Holly plane crash, farmer Albert Juhl was plowing the field
where the crash had occurred.  Holly owned a 22 caliber handgun and had placed it in the
bottom compartment of his overnight bag. During the crash, the bag had been thrown out
and had been torn open, dislodging the gun in the snow. It remained there and was found
the day farmer Juhl was plowing. Juhl took the gun and turned it into the local sheriff, but
not before firing the weapon himself. (There is difference of opinion on whether or not he
shared that ‘firing’ information with the sheriff.) ( Holly’s iconic black glasses were also
not found until much later in a snow bank.)   
After testing, it had been determined that the gun had been recently fired…. giving all
kinds of speculation that something might have happened on board that flight involving
the pistol. The facts finally surfaced, but not before planting a seed of inquiry into the mind
of Jay Richardson, only son of J.P. Richardson the Big Bopper.

It’s summer 2007, the Big Bopper’s son Jay Richardson wanted to have his father exhumed.
He had never seen his father, J.P. had died three months before Jay’s birth. There were
unanswered questions…how severe were his father’s injuries? On a long shot, was that pistol
involved in some way, shape or manner?  His father’s body was found the farthest from
the airplane wreckage… had he survived the crash and tried to go for help?  And so
Jay employed Dr. Bill Bass a credentialed forensic anthropologist to examine his father
upon his exhumation. The grave was at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Beaumont, Tx.
There were a few people present at the exhumation including a film crew. The grave was
opened, the vault was raised, opened and the metal Batesville Casket removed. It was
in extremely good shape for being interred 48 years. In a private setting later that morning
the casket was opened and Jay saw his father for the first time.


 By all accounts the Big Bopper was fully recognizable with his familiar 1959 crew-cut.
 The embalming had been superb, and the restorative art to his features also done well.
Dr. Bass and his assistants removed the body, performed an extensive examination and
multiple groupings of x-rays. Dr. Bass concluded and reported to Jay that there was
no foul play in the death of his father and that he had died from massive trauma, and
that he died instantly. (Dr. Bass noted that Richardson had more than 60 bone
fractures resulting from the accident.)  Batesville Casket Co. provided a new casket in
which J.P. was placed and a small procession drove him to his new resting place. The rumors
were nixed, Jay had seen his father for the first and only time, and had laid his father
back to rest. Sadly, Jay himself passed away in August of 2013.   

So the rumor that the pistol was somehow involved in the crash was finally
dismissed.  Jay Richardson finally got to see his father for the first time….it
must have been a  very bittersweet day for him, for sure.  

So what really happened that terrible morning?
I’m not an investigator by any means, but I actually think that within minutes
of taking off… Holly in the front seat…finding themselves in swirling, blinding
snow urged, or more forcefully, told Peterson the pilot to turn around and get
back to the airport a few short miles away. At the time of the crash, the
landing gear was not deployed, so the chance of him trying to land the aircraft
is quite remote. The engine was at normal cruise speed at the time of the
crash. Peterson may have been trying to gain altitude in an effort
to get above the weather he was confronting, but in actuality was making a
descending move not an ascending one.  I think Peterson, not instrument
rated, was very confused, spatially  disorientated, and lost control.

February 3rd of 1959 is talked and written about a lot…even 62 years later.

The lack of sophisticated weather tracking, communications and equipment
were most likely also factors in that terrible day. Accidents similar to this are
rare today. The four lost that day will not be forgotten. Their memories will
be perpetuated as time marches on…and that’s the way it should be.


Next up and lastly; the conclusions about the crash

(You can scroll down for the first three parts of this story)

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

The loss of Buddy Holly, part 3


It's February 3rd, 1959, within a few minutes of 1:00 a.m. Young pilot Peterson takes off
from the Mason City Airport in very wintry conditions, with a new weather front coming 
his way from the Northwest.....




The short flight and the crash..


The crash site….

Unfortunately the Beechcraft with Buddy Holly and three others had not gone far.
In less than five minutes and traveling under six miles, the aircraft impacted the terrain
at high speed, descending into a steep bank, hitting the right tip of the wing and leaving
a trail of debris 450 feet long, the remainder of the fuselage rolling into a ball and stopping
at a fence line. Here was an eerie scene for those who arrived the next morning. Four young men with great potential lying around a shattered airplane in a field.

There were no witnesses to the crash. Upon exam, the instruments in the plane read as follows: fuel pressure, oil temperature and pressure gauges were stuck in the green or normal range.
The attitude gyro indicator was stopped in a reading indicating a 90 degree angle.
Also, the rate of climb indicator was stopped at 3,000 feet per minute descent.
The airspeed indicator was stopped showing between 165-170 mph. (At this speed
and rate of descent from 800 feet…it would only take about 15 seconds to impact)
The seat belts had all suffered failures either in their attachment points or buckles.
The violent force of the crash itself resulted in Holly, Richardson and Valens all being
thrown from the aircraft. The bodies of Holly and Valens were within twenty feet of the
fuselage, Richardson’s body was thrown across the fence line some forty feet and onto the
property of Oscar Moffitt. The pilot Peterson’s body was trapped in the cockpit. The deceased were all covered in light snow which had accumulated overnight. The aircraft did
 not catch fire,(with 39 gallons of fuel supposedly on board, it’s kind of unusual that
there was no fire, or even mention of any fuel residue being noticed at the site during
the investigation) the landing gear was retracted at the time of the crash. The propeller hub gave evidence that the engine was under power when hitting the ground. County coroner Ralph Smiley certified that all victims died instantly, cause of death ‘gross trauma to brain’ for the
three recording artists and brain damage for pilot Peterson. The bodies were removed
from the site that morning. The only autopsy performed was that on the pilot
Peterson. Only macroscopic physical exams noting injuries to substantiate cause of death were
performed on Holly, Richardson and Valens.  

Next up part 4;  the pistol found and the years later exhumation of the Big Bopper. 


parts 1 and 2 are found below....

Monday, January 27, 2020

The loss of Buddy Holly, part 2







The loss of Buddy Holly, part 2, the take off 

The take off and the very short flight…

At 12:55 a.m. on Tues. Feb. 3rd, pilot Roger Peterson eased the nose of the Beechcraft
Bonanza airplane out on runway 17 at the Mason City Airport. On board, Buddy Holly,
J.P. Richardson and Richie Valens. (Yes, Waylon Jennings gave up his seat to the Big
Bopper…Richardson was feeling ill with a cold or worse, so Jennings gave up his seat
to the Big Bopper. The actual famous ‘coin flip’ for one seat was between Tommy Allsup
and Richie Valens..the physical flip was made by local D.J. and M.C. Bob Hale.. and
Valens won the seat so he would be on board.) Holly was seated up front next to the
pilot Peterson, Valens and Richardson were seated directly behind them.

 The weather had down-graded a bit, but not significantly since the last weather check by Peterson and his boss Hubert Dwyer. The ceiling was now down to 3,000 feet from 6,000 feet, and a front was approaching with light snow, winds were 20 to 30 mph and visibility was 6 miles, the temperature was a frigid 18 degrees.
Unfortunately a ‘flash’ weather advisory issued a few minutes before 1:00 a.m. was
never received or passed on to the pilot.  A large mass of snow was moving in their
flight path from the Northwest, and visibility had been lowered to two miles. This would
be significant upon the post crash investigation later on. Remember, Peterson was flying VISUALLY, with no instrument ratings. The flight, only 311 miles would take about one
 and one half hours.

Hubert Dwyer watched as the airplane lifted off the runway, made an initial left turn
onto a northwesterly heading and started climbing to its’ designated flight level of 800 feet.
Dwyer watched the tail light of the aircraft as it disappeared out of view…. that was
just after 1:00 a.m. Peterson had planned to file a flight plan once in the air, and was
to radio Dwyer once settled in for the flight.  When Peterson had failed to make
contact, several attempts to communicate with the aircraft were made and all were
unsuccessful.

At daylight, Dwyer in another airplane, went to trace the route of Holly’s
plane…… and the wreckage was found less than 6 miles from the airport. It hadn’t gotten
far. Had there been a structure failure? Did Peterson quickly discover the weather was
worse than he thought and was he turning to go back? Did the plane have too much
weight with passengers and luggage? Was there an engine problem that
could have caused loss of power? All good questions which would eventually be
confronted.

Next up: the crash site 

(scroll down for part 1)

Friday, January 24, 2020

The loss of Buddy Holly....part 1




Introduction…….

Buddy Holly, J.P. Richardson, Ritchie Valens and pilot Roger
Peterson....all in a Beechcraft Bonanza airplane, with luggage
and laundry stowed in the back. Within minutes after takeoff
all four would be part of rock and roll history. Here is their 
story............

So much has been written over the years concerning the death of
Buddy Holly.  Volumes of information; accident and investigation
reports, coroner’s notes, published books and articles that seem
to grow year after year.
There  were even rumors as late as 2005 that the NTSB might
re-open the crash investigation of the Holly crash in Feb. of 1959.,
but it didn’t happen.  This author has even made attempts to
reach family members to learn of where the aircraft remains are
now located…even after 60 years….but no responses have been
received  to my inquiries.

All the information in theses next few postings were taken from
public files, documents, police and coroners notes, etc.  And I write
about the event as a tribute to the young men who perished that
February 3rd. Whether you liked his music or not, Buddy Holly was
a rising star, up there with Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis himself.

So let’s remember these young people, their music, their families
and their legacies….and kind of imagine…what could have been.

There are five parts to this series….if you miss one…simply scroll
down to read the previous one…they will be marked 1 thru 5.

Part 1, the Pilot, Roger Peterson


The pilot, Roger Peterson.  Age age 21, was young, having been licensed in 1954, Roger had accumulated 711 hours of flying experience, 128 of those hours in the Beechcraft  Bonanza, an aircraft with a strange v shaped tail assembly.  It was known as the ‘Dr. killer’ because it had many crashes involving amateur pilots, many of them physicians. The aircraft’s top speed
was 165-175 miles per hour, and this version of the aircraft seated the pilot, three passengers
and their luggage. (As I side note, I had flown in this aircraft configuration a couple of times
years ago. We used to fly from the old Palmyra airport to Syracuse and back. I remember
the cockpit being quite tight with not a lot of room.)

Roger’s boss Hubert Dwyer was owner of Dwyer’ flying service, owner of the aircraft which
was designated N3794N. On the evening of the incident, Monday Feb. 2nd, both Dwyer and
Peterson had made several stops at the weather control center at the Mason City
airport.  The weather was wintry, light snow, winds from the south at 20 mph, ceiling
of 6,000 feet. Dwyer I’m sure was a bit concerned for the flight because of the three famous
people being transported later that night. But it’s quite evident he had confidence in Peterson who had accumulated his hours on charter flights. The flight was going to be 311 miles as the
‘crow flies’, from Mason City to Fargo, N.D.  Fargo’s airport was the closest to their next
gig to be held the following day in Moorhead, Minnesota.
And so it was that evening that pilot Peterson and his passengers of Holly, J.P. Richardson
and Ritchie Valens started on their fateful journey.

Was Peterson qualified for this evening’s flight? His boss Hubert Dwyer thought so…
even with the ‘famous’ people as his cargo, Dwyer had great confidence in young
Peterson and had sent him on many previous missions before.

As a note; pilot Peterson only had his visual flight rules certification. He had taken 9 months
before, his instrument rating exam and had failed it. So what did this mean? Well,
he would be flying by sight only, landmarks, horizon, lights. Using a compass and the on board
Sperry attitude gyro. Now that was another challenge. Peterson was used to flying with the
traditional horizontal horizon gyro….and not the Sperry gyro. This is a bit complicated, but
basically, incorrect readings can be taken if not totally familiar with the instrument.

There will be more about young Peterson in the final investigation report; that will be
in part five of this story in a few days.

The aircraft was loaded with the luggage and personals and Buddy Holly took the seat
in the front next to pilot Peterson, with Valens and Richardson sitting behind. A last check
and it was off to Fargo, N. Dakota and then to Moorhead for more rock and roll.



Next up: part 2; the takeoff, the short flight, the crash.

after each posting...you may comment if you like by scrolling down
to the bottom; click on no comments, then leave yours. 

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Back to the basics..




I've been rather distracted as of late with the holidays, obligations,

weather, etc.. and I've done little posting here in the last month or so....

but that will change.

I'm looking at some new projects for 2020.....and will try to attempt

some more work on a western novel that I'm into.  When I started it

some time ago, I had no idea it would be such a major project.

Wow. That's the only word I have for it.  The research, organizing

the story, the actual writing, re-writing goes on and on.  So I will

start hitting the key board heavy here in the weeks ahead.. and I'll

be sharing some of that as I go along with you, right here.


So, come back soon... you'll see some interesting things posted

before you know it....and think spring! SS