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 3^rd of 1959 is talked and written about a lot…even 63 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)

The Buddy Holly crash.....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....

The Buddy Holly crash....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)

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 3^rd. 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. 2^nd, 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. 

Tales Unleashed, 28 very unique short stories....

 

Published in a pocket sized book you can put in your purse or back pocket,  

Tales Unleashed is a book you can 'sample' read right now at Amazon....

go, take a look, read a few stories for free...you'll get the idea of what the 

book is all about.

Top reviews from the United States

Posey picker 48

5.0 out of 5 stars Cute stories

Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2019

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Very well told with a bit of "Alfred Hitchcock" type stories with humor. Highly recommend this for fun, light reading.

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Good cooking

5.0 out of 5 stars Appropriate spooky stories for any age

Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2019

Had to get this book for my daughter after reading a copy I got from a friend. It is rare to get “spooky stories” that are appropriate for any age group. Great short stories for reading around the campfire! (Does anyone do that any more?). A good read that makes you look over your shoulder at twilight time!

It's family.....from one generation to the next.

 

This story was posted here a few months ago......I don't have anything Christmas related,

but this truly is a 'feel good' story...and is about family....and the holidays are about

family indeed.  So indulge me here.....and follow Mary Pritchard in her quest for a 

retirement home. 

   Is it possible to be 'drawn' to a certain place? Can your 'sixth sense' take

over and actually lead you to a place where you are supposed to be?

It does seem so.  Mary Pritchard found that out upon her retirement...drawn to

a place, and actually to a time that she had experienced before. Mary did find

that perfect retirement home....in Morgantown. It's chapter 4, 'The Mason's mark'

one of 28 stories to be found in Tales Unleashed.  

The Mason’s Mark

Mary Pritchard had always wanted to live in a nice quiet home, one with a front yard, perhaps a porch, maybe even a large dining room. But as a youngster in the 1950's, she had little choice about where she would be. Her mother had passed when she was a very young girl.

Mary possessed the one and only doll that her mother had gifted her on her fourth birthday. Soon after that, with her mother’s passing, she would have to go live with her Aunt Trudy, her only known relative. Mary’s father Miles had also passed away very tragically while on a job near their home in Morgantown. Miles was a master mason . . . a bricklayer, if you will. His work was beyond compare and Miles had helped build dozens of homes that were the envy of all who viewed them.

As Mary neared her retirement age, the call of returning to Morgantown kept coming to mind. And so, a year before retiring, Mary contacted a number of real estate agents in the Morgantown area to arrange to look at some homes there. By email, Mary finally had two or three very nice homes to look at . . . and her excitement grew as she marked two walk-throughs on her calendar, scheduled on the same weekend.

Meeting the local agent at a small friendly coffee spot in Morgantown, Mary looked at the information about the two homes that the agent had laid out in front of her. Both were well-kept homes, in nice neighborhoods, and each offered the right accommodations for someone soon to retire. But there was something about 151 Spruce Street that drew Mary’s attention more than the other property. The front yard was small and easily maintained, a nicely decorated porch graced the front, and the home was entirely made of brick. It weathered well over the years and had been maintained beautifully by its previous owners.

That same afternoon the real estate gal drove Mary to 151 Spruce. My, it was a lovely home, and even had a picket fence!

“The price is a bit high,” Mary exclaimed to the agent as they made their way up the front walk. “Do you think they might come down a bit?” The agent assured her she would see what could be done if Mary decided she wanted to buy. The agent gave Mary the quick tour . . . guiding her along the way from room to room and pointing out the amenities as they went.

“I must show the basement,” said the agent. “It has a new furnace, new water heater, cement floor, and it’s completely dry!”

As the two descended the ten short steps down, Mary felt a warm sensation, as if someone was welcoming her to this place. Yet she had never been in this house before. She was sure of that.

As the two gals chatted back and forth, Mary made her way to the straight and square red chimney on the west side of the basement. Old it was, but showed no signs of wear or deterioration. Two bricks up from the basement floor, Mary spotted an irregularity on one brick’s surface. Squatting down and brushing the dust from the brick she read, MJP, 9-’50. As she touched the brick a second time, a wave of exhilaration came over her. She knew then and there that her father Miles James Pritchard had helped build this house, presumably in September of 1950.

She stood up, turned with tears in her eyes, and said, “I’m home, I’ll have a check in full for you tomorrow.”

After more than fifty years, Mary had come home to Morgantown . . . not just a home, but a home that her father had helped to build for her. A better retirement gift, no one could ever have asked for.

"Undertakings" now in it's sixth year.....

 

Wow....how the months fly by.  Hope your Thanksgiving was a good one...

even in this strange time we continute to live in. Hopefully sometime in 2022,

we'll all have an end in site from this Covid thing....it has been long and tedious

for everyone.  And before you know it.....that time will come for those new

year's resolutions...you know... those things you say you are going to try and

accomplish, but can't quite get past the starting gate....lol...well, that's me in a

nutshell!

January will mark year 6 for Undertakings of an Undertaker... and I'm amazed 

how well the book continues to do....especially overseas in the UK. For some

reason, folks there keep buying the book, month after month after month. 

And it's practically with no advertising on that side of the globe....just word of

mouth and the internet.....simply amazing.  And a shout out here to my undertaker

friend Peter in Bristol, England, he has been a loyal supporter and follower. 

Well, some interesting projects in the works for 2022...and I'm hoping I can get

back to some speaking engagements....the last 20 months or so have been pretty 

lean....let's hope that can be turned around... I miss getting out in front of people

and telling stories.  Stop back soon... and check out some of the writings you'll

find in the column on the right of this posting....and don't be too scared... just 

leave a light on!  SS