Thursday, January 27, 2022

The Buddy Holly crash.....part 1

 




 If you are over 60...you'll remember this mishap..if under 60
 you will at least recall the music made famous by these folks.
 This is a five part series that will be updated every couple of 
 days...so please come back for it.  

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 63 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. 

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 will be posted soon. 

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