Thirty Years Ago Today ...
Death of Stevie Ray Vaughan ... he was 35
The helicopter crash ..
The day before his death, Vaughan told his band and crew members about a nightmare that he had in which he was at his own funeral and saw thousands of mourners. He felt "terrified, yet almost peaceful".
[1] Backstage after the show that evening, the musicians talked about playing together again, particularly with Eric Clapton for a series of dates at London's
Royal Albert Hall in February and March 1991 as a tribute to
Jimi Hendrix.
[2] Moments later, Clapton's tour manager Peter Jackson said that the weather was getting worse and they had to leave soon.
[3] Vaughan's last words to drummer Chris Layton were "I love ya."
[4][5]
Four helicopters were waiting to transport concert group members to Chicago. Vaughan was with his brother
Jimmie Vaughan and Jimmie's wife Connie as they went to board their reserved
Bell 206B Jet Ranger helicopter piloted by Jeff Brown.
[5][6] Eric Clapton's tour manager Peter Jackson had told Vaughan that seats were reserved for all three of them.
[2][7] However, they discovered that their seats had been taken by Clapton's agent Bobby Brooks, bodyguard Nigel Browne, and assistant tour manager Colin Smythe, with only one empty seat available.
[2][5][8] Vaughan asked Jimmie and Connie if he could take the last seat, saying "I really need to get back."
[2][5] Jimmie and Connie obliged and caught the next flight in
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, with manager Mark Proct.
[2]
Vaughan and the other three passengers departed aboard the third helicopter in dense fog at 1 A.M.
[9] Jeff Brown piloted the helicopter off the golf course, at a higher speed and slightly lower altitude than the others.
[6][10] It banked sharply
[8] to the left
[6] and crashed into the side of a 300-foot ski slope,
[11] about 0.6 miles (1 km) from takeoff.
[6] All on board were killed instantly.
[12] There was no fire or explosion, and the bodies and debris were scattered over 200 feet (60 m).
[7][10][11] No one was aware of the crash until the helicopter failed to arrive at its destination the next morning.
A Wisconsin Civil Air Patrol
[13][14] search airplane found the wreckage at 7 A.M., 50 feet (15 m) below the summit of the hill.
[6][10] Shortly after, Clapton and Jimmie Vaughan were called to the morgue to identify the bodies.
[11]According to an autopsy report, Vaughan had suffered many unsurvivable injuries, such as transection and
dissection of the aorta and multiple depressed skull fractures, along with a ruptured spleen and liver and fractures of the right thigh bone and ribs.
[15] An investigation found that no drugs or alcohol were involved and that all victims had worn seatbelts. No mechanical failures or malfunctions were found with the helicopter.
[6] Pilot Jeff Brown was instrument-rated and had many hours of experience operating the Bell 206B at night. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the cause of the accident was deemed
controlled flight into terrain, as Brown could not see the hill due to low visibility.
[10]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Stevie_Ray_Vaughan
