The day the music died

[Scooter]

February 3, 1959

[Bicycle Bill]

Everyone seems to forget there was a 4th victim ..... the pilot, Roger Peterson.



-"BB"-

[Bicycle Bill]

The site of their last gig .... The Surf Ballroom as it appears today
(much the same as it did back then, actually)

Photo of the wreckage the next morning
(and yes, those are the bodies of the victims lying in front of the wreckage in the photo)

Memorial at the crash site as it appears today


-"BB"-

[Scooter]

Thank you, yes, him too.

[RayThom]

... Everyone seems to forget there was a 4th victim ..... the pilot, Roger Peterson...

And rightly so. I still feel it was due to Peterson's pilot error that killed them all. Wanting some kind of linkage to the celebrities on board clouded his better judgement.

“There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots.”

[Bicycle Bill]

... Everyone seems to forget there was a 4th victim ..... the pilot, Roger Peterson...

And rightly so. I still feel it was due to Peterson's pilot error that killed them all. Wanting some kind of linkage to the celebrities on board clouded his better judgement.

“There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots.”

So did the CAB (Civil Aeronautics Board, the predecessor to today's FAA).  Right on page 1, third paragraph of the official accident report it says

This accident, like so many before it, was caused by the pilot’s decision to undertake a flight in which the likelihood of encountering instrument conditions existed, in the mistaken belief that he could cope with en route instrument weather conditions, without having the necessary familiarization with the instruments in the aircraft and without being properly certificated to fly solely by instruments.

And just in case they didn't make it clear enough the first time, in the very last paragraph of the report on page 9 (before the supplemental information) they repeat their assessment that the pilot was at fault:

The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the pilot’s unwise decision to embark on a flight which would necessitate flying solely by instruments when he was not properly certificated or qualified to do so.  Contributing factors were serious deficiencies in the weather briefing, and the pilot’s unfamiliarity with the instrument which determines the attitude of the aircraft.

-"BB"-