Something Touched Me Deep Inside, The Day The Music Died

Buddy Holly on the Ed Sullivan show in the 1950s

February 3, 2009:

Fifty years ago today, The Music Died.

“The Winter Dance Party” was a multi-act rock and roll tour.  The tour featured Buddy Holly with a new back-up band; namely, Tommy Allsup on guitar, Waylon Jennings on bass, and Carl Bunch on drums.  In addition to Buddy and his band were  Dion and the Belmonts, J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, and Frankie Sardo.  None of the other performers had backing bands, so Buddy’s backup band filled in for all the shows.

The Winter Dance Party tour was at The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa the evening of February 2, 1959.

The boys normally traveled by bus, but their bus had engine problems and was without a heating system.  It was during the middle of a cold Midwestern winter.  In the 1950’s, heaters were NOT installed in automobiles and busses as a standard item.  They were an extra cost option.   This bus may have had a system but, if so, that system was broken.  The boys did not look forward to traveling in that frigid bus.

To avoid the bitter cold, Buddy Holly chartered a plane to fly himself and two of the boys in his band from Clear Lake to their next gig in Moorhead, MN.  Waylon Jennings, then a bass guitarist, was talked out of his seat on the plane by The Big Bopper, who was running a fever and had trouble fitting his stocky frame into the bus seats. 

Tommy Alsup, now 77,  lost a coin toss for a seat on the doomed plane (or did he win?) to Richie Valens.

Waylon terribly regrets his last words to Buddy Holly.

Buddy Holly:  “I hope you freeze to death on the bus!”

Waylon Jennings:  “Well, I hope your plane crashes.”

 Buddy Holly performs in the 1950s.

The plane took off just after 1:00 am on Feb. 3 in what was supposed to be a 300-mile flight to Fargo, N.D.  The flight lasted only minutes.  The plane crashed about 15 miles northwest of Mason City, Iowa, on a private farm.

The 21-year-old pilot had a vertigo problem, was not certified for instrument flight, and was unfamiliar with the craft’s updated instrumentation.

The artificial horizon indicator (gyroscope) provided information in a non-standard, non-intuitive fashion, out-of -step with the pilot’s  standard, intuitive  displays.

The conditions were pitch-black with snow.  Even though ceilings were relatively high, nothing could be seen out the window.

Not knowing the plane was partially inverted, the pilot flew the plane into the ground at a 60 degree angle at 170 mph.

The bodies were intact, but the remains showed complete structural failure of the skeletal system.  Death was instantaneous.

I am unable to confirm a report that, fifty years later, the wreckage is still stored somewhere in northern Iowa.

Charles Hardin Holley (22), Jiles Perry Richardson (28), and Richard Valenzuela (17) were joined together for eternity with the 21-year-old pilot, Roger Peterson.

A poster of Buddy Holly hangs in the entrance of the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa.  

Holly’s wife was pregnant when the crash took place.  Her immense grief caused her miscarriage two months later.  I have always wondered if the child was to be a little boy or a little girl, Buddy’s sacred gift to the world.

Clear Lake is 360 miles away from Chicago.  It is mainly west and a little north of Chicago, in northern Iowa.  Fifty years later, the weather is unchanged. 

The crash site has a huge replica of Buddy’s black glasses on display, telling all that this is the spot.   Today there is a heavy, pure white blanket of snow over the field.  In his time, Buddy himself was respectful and courteous, with a character as pure as the snow covering the area of his demise. 

Today the temperature is cold,

in the teens.

The Sun is bright. 

It is beautiful. 

The darkness is within those

who miss him

and who loved him

and who knew him personally.

After fifty years,

most of those are already gone,

having already joined Buddy,

wherever he is.

A poster showing Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and “The Big Bopper” hangs in the Surf Ballroom. 

Don McLean’s 1972 Number 1 hit “American Pie” dubbed February 3 as “The Day The Music Died”.  McLean was a 13-year-old paperboy when the plane went down.  He wrote:

A long time ago
I can still remember how
That music used to make me smile.

And I knew if I had my chance,
That I could make those people dance,
And maybe they’d be happy for a while.

But February made me shiver,
With every paper I’d deliver,
Bad news on the doorstep…

I couldn’t take one more step.
I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride

But something touched me deep inside,
The day the music died.

 The dance floor in the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, the small northern Iowa town where the boys gave their last performance.

Sonny Curtis wrote:

The levee isn’t dry
And the music didn’t die
Because Buddy Holly lives
Ev’ry time we play rock n’ roll 

Requiestat in Pace  

 Buddy Holly 

The Pilot:

The pilot was an Alta, Iowa native named Roger Peterson, age 21.  “He was a young man who built his life around flying,” the Civil Aeronautics Board reflected in its official report following the crash.  He had begun flying at age 16, had his license just after graduating high school, and by 21, had over 700 hours of flight experience, and a year as a charter flight pilot and flight instructor under his belt.

Roger Peterson

The eldest of four children, Peterson had married his high school sweetheart, Deanne Lenz, the September before. They had just established a home in Clear Lake.  A passionate and respected young pilot, his career seemed assured.
The airport received no radio transmission after the plane took off.  It was found in a remote field the next day, after the young pilot’s boss took out another plane to trace the route.  Peterson was found still in the cockpit of the ruined plane, with the bodies of the three singers strewn in the 500-foot long path of debris. 

 

 

 

 

The Crash itself edited from information provided by OKGuy and Beachboy:

The plane being flown was a pilot’s airplane, the aerodynamic Beechcraft Bonanza, a Model P painted red-and-white.

The young pilot may not have been well-trained and was definitely not trained on the new instruments in the craft,  yet he was flying a hot Bonanza.

The plane’s nose dropped slightly, causing airspeed to build, even more so with the clean aerodynamics of the Bonanza.  A wing also dropped a little.  These conditions put the airplane is in a descending turn, and its speed was building. The Bonanza is in the initial phase of a spiral.

It’s dark outside. The pilot cannot see the horizon.  He may not have known in which direction he was turning.

Getting out of this initial phase is normally a matter of leveling the wings first and raising the nose second, being sure to use smooth control inputs.  But with good habits not yet ingrained in this new pilot and with also the pilot being surprised, it was his natural instinct to “pull back” when approaching the ground, thus raising the nose so as to go higher but doing so mistakenly without first leveling the wings.

Raising the nose when straight-and-level raises the nose upward.  But raising the nose in a turn raises the nose in the direction of the turn, making the turn tighter and adding more G forces.  The Bonanza is now in a fully developed spiral or has accelerated past red-line airspeed.

Everyone in the very small cabin is sitting closely together.  The pilot may have lost the confidence of the passengers who may have been out of control themselves, creating a further distraction the pilot didn’t need.

But the plane can still be saved.  First level the wings, then raise the nose, and do so smoothly. The only thing to be done quickly is to close the throttle.  But the new pilot is scared to death!  He incorrectly pulls back hard on the yoke in an attempt to raise the nose, but instead he tightens the turn further, adding more G-forces to the stressed airplane. 

He may have thought he was banking up into the snowy sky, when he was actually banking down at high speed.

The tail separates from the craft due to overloading.  It moves up and unloads the wings.  The wings then fail from the sudden reversal of the wing-loading.  The airplane comes apart, first the tail, then the wings, in the blink of an eye.

 Our friends die.

This was the pattern of Bonanza break-up accidents in those days due to loss of control.  That’s why Bonanza’s were called “Doctor Killers”.  Doctors could afford them, but they didn’t have the skill level to fly them properly. They bought them as their first airplane, before they had the experience – a condition known as having the check book but not the logbook.  The Buddy Holly accident fits a common pattern of aircraft accidents in those years.

Part of the tail was found 1/4 mile away and a wing was found 1/2 mile away.  

The monument set up near the spot where the plane crashed, killing all aboard.

 

Flowers adorn a memorial at the spot where the plane crashed.

Holly’s funeral was held on February 7, 1959 at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Lubbock, TX.  His body was interred in the City of Lubbock Cemetery in the eastern part of the city.  Holly’s headstone carries the correct spelling of his surname (Holley) and a carving of his Fender Stratocaster guitar.

Holly was tall, lanky, and bespectacled.  He looked like an ordinary guy who simply played and sang well, and part of his appeal as a rock & roll star was rooted in how unlikely he looked in that role.

Holly was specifically responsible for popularizing — some would say elevating to mystical, even magical status — the Fender Stratocaster.

The crash was considered a piece of grim but not terribly significant news.  Most news organizations were run by men who didn’t take rock & roll seriously;  however, disk jockeys and teenagers were stunned and overwhelmed.  Holly stands eternally innocent, both personally and in terms of the times in which he’d lived.

Requiestat in Pace  

The Civil Aeronautics Board Report on the Holly Crash

 

Aircraft Accident Report
Adopted: September 15, 1959
Released September 23, 1959 Mason City, Iowa
February 3, 1959

Synopsis

A Beech Bonanza, N 3794N, crashed at night approximately 5 miles northwest of the Mason City Municipal Airport, Mason City, Iowa, at approximately 0100, February 3, 1959. The pilot and three passengers were killed and the aircraft was demolished.

The aircraft was observed to take off toward the south in a normal manner, turn and climb to an estimated altitude of 800 feet, and then head in a northwesterly direction. When approximately 5 miles had been traversed, the tail light of the aircraft was seen to descend gradually until it disappeared from sight. Following this, many unsuccessful attempts were made to contact the aircraft by radio. The wreckage was found in a filed later that morning.

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.

Investigation

Charles Hardin, J.P. Richardson, and Richard Valenzuela were members of a group of entertainers appearing in Clear Lake, Iowa, the night of Feb. 2, 1959. The following night they were to appear in Moorhead, Minnesota. Because of bus trouble, which had plagued the group, these three decided to go to Moorhead ahead of the others. Accordingly, arrangements were made through Roger Peterson of the Dwyer Flying Service, Inc., located on the Mason City Airport, to charter an aircraft to fly to Fargo, North Dakota, the nearest airport to Moorhead.

At approximately 1730,* Pilot Peterson went to the Air Traffic Communications Station (ATCS), which was located in a tower on top of the Administration Building, to obtain the necessary weather information pertinent to the flight. This included the current weather at Mason City, Iowa; Minneapolis, Redwood Falls, and Alexandria, Minnesota and the terminal forecast for Fargo, North Dakota. He was advised by the communicator that all these stations were reporting ceilings of 5,000 feet or better and visibility of 10 miles or above; also, that the Fargo terminal forecast indicated the possibility of light snow showers after 0200 and a cold frontal passage about 0400. The communicator told Peterson that a later terminal forecast would be available at 2300. At 2200 and again at 2330 Pilot Peterson called ATCS concerning the weather. At the latter time he was advised that the stations en route were reporting ceilings of 4200 feet or better with visibility still 10 miles or greater. Light snow was reported at Minneapolis. The cold front previously reported by the communicator as forecast to pass Fargo at 0400 was now reported to pass there at 0200. The Mason City weather was reported to the pilot as: ceiling measured 6,000 overcast; visibility 15 miles plus; temperature 15 degrees; dew point 8 degrees; wind south 25 to 32 knots; altimeter setting 29.96 inches.

At 2355, Peterson, accompanied by Hubert Dwyer, a certificated commercial pilot, the local fixed-base operator at the Mason City Airport, and owner of Bonanza N3794N (the aircraft used on the flight), again went to ATCS for the latest weather information. The local weather had changed somewhat in that the ceiling had lowered to 5,000 feet, light snow was falling, and the altimeter setting was now 29.90 inches.

The passengers arrived at the airport about 0040 and after their baggage had been properly stowed on board, the pilot and passengers boarded the aircraft. Pilot Peterson told Mr. Dwyer that he would file his flight plan by radio when airborne. While the aircraft was being taxied to the end of runway 17, Peterson called ATCS and asked for the latest local and en route weather. This was given him as not having changed materially en route; however, the local weather was now reported as: Precipitation ceiling 3,000 feet, sky obscured; visibility 6 miles; light snow; wind south 20 knots, gusts to 30 knots; altimeter setting 29.85 inches.

A normal takeoff was made at 055 and the aircraft was observed to make a left 180-degree turn and climb to approximately 800 feet and then, after passing the airport to the east, to head in a northwesterly direction. Through most of the flight the tail light of the aircraft was plainly visible to Mr. Dwyer, who was watching from a platform outside the tower. When about five miles from the airport, Dwyer saw the tail light of the aircraft gradually descend until out of sight. When Peterson did not report his flight plan by radio soon after takeoff, the communicator, at Mr. Dwyer’s request, repeatedly tried to reach him but was unable to do so. The time was approximately 0100.

After an extensive air search, the wreckage of N 3794N was sighted in an open farm field at approximately 0935 that morning. All occupants were dead and the aircraft was demolished. The field in which the aircraft was found was level and covered with about four inches of snow.

The accident occurred in a sparsely inhabited area and there were not witnesses. Examination of the wreckage indicated that the first impact with the ground was made by the right wing tip when the aircraft was in a steep right bank and in a nose-low attitude. It was further determined that the aircraft was traveling at high speed on a heading of 315 degrees. Parts were scattered over a distance of 540 feet, at the end of which the main wreckage was found lying against a barbed wire fence. The three passengers were thrown clear of the wreckage, the pilot was found in the cockpit. The two front seat safety belts and the middle ones of the rear seat were torn free fro their attach points. The two rear outside belt ends remained attached to their respective fittings; the buckle of one was broken. None of the webbing was broken and no belts were about the occupants.

Although the aircraft was badly damaged, certain important facts were determined. There was no fire. All components were accounted fro at the wreckage site. There was no evidence of inflight structural failure or failure of the controls. The landing gear was retracted at the time of impact. The damaged engine was dismantled and examined; there was no evidence of engine malfunctioning or failure in flight. Both blades of the propeller were broken at the hub, giving evidence that the engine was producing power when ground impact occurred. The hub pitch-change mechanisms indicated that the blade pitch was in the cruise range.

Despite the damage to the cockpit the following readings were obtained:

Magneto switches were both in the “off” position.

Battery and generator switches were in the “on” position.

The tachometer r.p.m. needle was stuck at 2200.

Fuel pressure, oil temperature and pressure gauges were stuck in the normal or green range.

The attitude gyro indicator was stuck in a manner indicative of a 90-degree angle.

The rate of climb indicator was stuck at 3,000-feet-per-minute descent.

The airspeed indicator needle was stuck between 165-170 mph.

The directional gyro was caged.

The omni selector was positioned at 114.9, the frequency of the Mason City omni range.

The course selector indicated a 360-degree course.

The transmitter was tuned to 122.1, the frequency for Mason City.

The transmitter was tuned to 122.1, the frequency for Mason City.

The Lear autopilot was not operable.

The Aircraft

The aircraft, a Beech Bonanza, model 35, S/N-1019, identification N 3794N, was manufactured October 17, 1947. It was powered by a Continental model E185-8 engine which had a total of 40 hours since major overhaul. The aircraft was purchased by the Dwyer Flying Service, July 1, 1958, and, according to records and the testimony of the licensed mechanic employed by Dwyer, had been properly maintained since its acquisition. N 3794N was equipped with high and low frequency radio transmitters and receivers, a Narca omnigator, Lear autopilot (only recently installed and not operable), all the necessary engine and navigational instruments, and a full panel of instruments used for instrument flying, including a Sperry F3 attitude Gyro.

Pilot

Roger Arthur Peters, 21 years old, was regularly employed by Dwyer Flying Service as a commercial pilot and flight instructor, and had been with them bout one year. He had been flying since October of 1954, and had accumulated 711 flying hours, of which 128 were in Bonanza aircraft. Almost all of the Bonanza time was acquired during charter flights. He had approximately 52 hours of dual instrument training and had passed his instrument written examination. He fail an instrument flight check on March 21, 1958, nine months prior to the accident. His last CAA second-class physical examination was taken March 29, 1958. A hearing deficiency of his right Ear was found and because of this he was given a flight test. A waiver noting this hearing deficiency was issued November 29, 1958. According to his associates, he was a young married man who built his life around flying. When his instrument training was taken, several aircraft were used and these were all equipped with the conventional type artificial horizon and none with the Sperry Attitude Gyro such as was installed in Bonanza N 3794N. These two instruments differ greatly in their pictorial display.

The conventional artificial horizon provides a direct reading indication of the bank and pitch attitude of the aircraft which is accurately indicated by a miniature aircraft pictorially displayed against a horizon bar and as if observed from the rear.. The Sperry F3 gyro also provides a direct reading indication of the bank and pitch attitude of the aircraft, but its pictorial presentation is achieved by using a stabilized sphere whose free-floating movements behind a miniature aircraft presents pitch information with a sensing exactly opposite from that depicted by the conventional artificial horizon.

The Weather

The surface weather chart for 0000 February 3, 1959, showed a cold front extending from he northwestern corner of Minnesota through central Nebraska with a secondary cold front through North Dakota. Widespread snow shower activity was indicated in advance of these fronts. Temperatures along the airway route form Mason City to Fargo were below freezing at all levels with an inversion between 3,000 and 4,000 feet and abundant moisture present at all levels through 12,000 feet. The temperature and moisture content was such that moderate to heavy icing and precipitation existed in the clouds along the route. Winds aloft along the route at altitudes below 10,000 feet were reported to be 30 to 50 knots from southwesterly direction, with the he strongest winds indicated to be closest to the cold front.

A flash advisory issued by the U.S. Weather Bureau at Minneapolis at 2335 on February 2 contained the following information: “Flash Advisory No. 5 A band of snow about 100 miles wide at 2335 from extreme northwestern Minnesota, northern North Dakota through Bismarck and south-southwestward through Black Hills of South Dakota with visibility generally below 2 miles in snow. This area or band moving southeastward about 25 knots. cold front at 2335 from vicinity Winnipeg through Minot, Williston, moving southeastward 25 to 30 knots with surface winds following front north-northwest with 25 to gusts of 45. Valid until 0335.” Another advisory issued by the U. S. Weather Bureau at Kansas City, Missouri at 0015 on February 3 was: “Flash Advisory No. 1. Over eastern half of Kansas ceilings are locally below one thousand feet, visibilities locally 2 miles or less in freezing drizzle, light snow and fog. Moderate to locally heavy icing areas of freezing drizzle and locally moderate icing in clouds below 10,000 feet over eastern portion Nebraska, Kansas, northwest Missouri and most of Iowa. Valid until 0515.” Neither communicator could recall having drawn these flash advisories to the attention of Pilot Peterson. Mr. Dwyer said that when he accompanied pilot Peterson to ATCS, no information was given them indicating instrument flying weather would be encountered along the route.

Analysis

There is no evidence to indicate that very important flash advisories regarding adverse weather conditions were drawn to the attention of the pilot. On the contrary, there is evidence that the weather briefing consisted solely of the reading of current weather at en route terminal and terminal forecasts for the destination. Failure of the communicators to draw these advisories to the attention of the pilot and to emphasize their importance could readily lead the pilot to underestimate the severity of the weather situation.

It must be pointed out that the communicators’ responsibility with respect to furnishing weather information to pilots is to give them all the available information, to interpret this data if requested, but not to advise in any manner. Also, the pilot and the operator in this case had a definite responsibility to request and obtain all of the available information and to interpret it correctly.

Mr. Dwyer said that he had confidence in Peterson and relied entirely on his operational judgment with respect to the planning and conduct of the flight.

At Mason City, at the time of takeoff, the barometer was falling, the ceiling and visibility were lowering, light snow had begun to fall, and the surface winds and winds aloft were so high one could reasonably have expected to encounter adverse weather during the estimated two-hour flight.

It was already snowing at Minneapolis, and the general forecast for the area along the intended route indicated deteriorating weather conditions. Considering all of these facts and the fact that the company was certificated to fly in accordance with visual flight rules only, both day and night, together with the pilot’s unproved ability to fly by instrument, the decision to go seems most imprudent.

It is believe that shortly after takeoff pilot Peterson entered an area of complete darkness and one in which there was no definite horizon; that the snow conditions and the lack of horizon required him to rely solely on flight instruments for aircraft attitude and orientation.

The high gusty winds and the attendant turbulence which existed this night would have caused the rate of climb indicator and the turn and bank indicator to fluctuate to such an extent that an interpretation of these instruments so far as attitude control is concerned would have been difficult to a pilot as inexperienced as Peterson. The airspeed and altimeter alone would not have provided him with sufficient reference to maintain control of the pitch attitude. With his limited experience the pilot would tend to rely on the attitude gyro which is relatively stable under these conditions.

Service experience with the use of the attitude gyro has clearly indicated confusion among pilots during the transition period or when alternating between conventional and attitude gyros. Since Peterson had received his instrument training in aircraft equipped with the conventional type artificial horizon, and since this instrument and the attitude gyro are opposite in their pictorial display of the pitch attitude, it is probably that the reverse sensing would at times produce reverse control action. This is especially true of instrument flight conditions requiring a high degree of concentration or requiring multiple function, as would be the case when flying instrument conditions in turbulence without a copilot. The directional gyro was found caged and it is possible that it was never used during the short flight. However, this evidence is not conclusive. If the directional gyro were caged throughout the flight this could only have added to the pilot’s confusion.

Conclusion

At night, with an overcast sky, snow falling, no definite horizon, and a proposed flight over a sparsely settled area with an absence of ground lights, a requirement for control of the aircraft solely by reference to flight instruments can be predicated with virtual certainty.

The Board concludes that pilot Peterson, when a short distance from the airport, was confronted with this situation. Because of fluctuation of the rate instruments caused by gusty winds he would have been forced to concentrate and rely greatly on the attitude gyro, an instrument with which he was not completely familiar. The pitch display of this instrument is the reverse of the instrument he was accustomed to; therefore, he could have become confused and thought that he was making a climbing turn when in reality he was making a descending turn. The fact that the aircraft struck the ground in a steep turn but with the nose lowered only slightly, indicates that some control was being effected at the time. The weather briefing supplied to the pilot was seriously inadequate in that it failed to even mention adverse flying conditions which should have been highlighted.

Probable Cause

The Board determines that he probably 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.

By the Civil Aeronautics Board: James R. Dupree/ Chan Gurney/Harmar D. Denny/ G. Joseph Minetti/ Louis J. Hector

Buddy Holly’s Death Certificate

From the Coroner’s Report dated Feb. 4, 1959 

The body of Charles H. Holley was clothed in an outer jacket of yellow leather-like material in which 4 seams in the back were split almost full length. The skull was split medially in the forehead and this extended into the vertex region. Approximately half the brain tissue was absent. There was bleeding from both ears, and the face showed multiple lacerations. The consistency of the chest was soft due to extensive crushing injury to the bony structure. The left forearm was fractured 1/3 the way up from the wrist and the right elbow was fractured. Both thighs and legs showed multiple fractures. There was a small laceration of the scrotum. 

Personal effects found with the body are listed on a separate sheet in this report. 

Fingerprints were taken of the deceased for purposes of identification. 

Ralph E. Smiley, MD
Acting coroner

Personal effects, Charles Holley

Cash $193.00 less $11.65 coroner’s fees – $181.35

2 cuff links, silver 1/2 in. balls having jeweled band

Top portion of ball point pen.

 

Personal effects, Charles Holley

Cash $193.00 less $11.65 coroner’s fees – $181.35

2 cuff links, silver 1/2 in. balls having jeweled band

Top portion of ball point pen.

The Official Coroner’s Investigation into the Buddy Holly Crash

Coroner’s investigation
Air crash, Feb. 3, 1959
SW1/4 Section 18, Lincoln Twp.
Cerro Gordo County, Iowa

Jiles P. Richardson, Charles Holley, Richard Valenzuela and Roger A. Peterson, pilot of the plane were killed in the crash of a chartered airplane when it fell within minutes of takeoff from the Mason City Airport. The three passengers were members of a troupe of entertainers who appeared at the Surf Ballroom at Clear Lake, Iowa, the evening of February 2, 1959, bound for Fargo, N.D. and was headed northwest from the airport at the time of the crash in a stubble field, 51/2 miles north of Clear Lake, Iowa. The plane was discovered about 9:00 A.M., February 3, 1959, when Mr. H.J. Dwyer, owner of the crashed plane, made an aerial search because he had received no word from Peterson since his takeoff.The wreckage had been approached only by Deputy Sheriff Bill McGill in his sheriff’s car before I arrived about 11:15 A.M. At this time two sheriff’s cars, two highway patrol cars and cars carrying members of the press, both reporters and photographers, and representatives of TV and radio stations and a few spectators were allowed to pass through the gate into the field where the crash occurred. Approach was made in a circuitous route to avoid disturbing wreckage and debris from the crash.

The Big Bopper, Richie Valens, and Buddy Holly

The wreckage lay about 1/2 mile west from the nearest north-south gravel road and the farmhomes of the Albert Juhl’s and the Delbert Juhl’s. The main part of the plane lay against the barbed wire fence at the north end of the stubble field in which it came to earth. It had skidded and/or rolled approximately 570 feet from point of impact directed northwesterly. The shape of the mass of wreckage approximated a ball with one wing sticking up diagonally from one side. The body of Roger Peterson was enclosed by wreckage with only the legs visible sticking upward. Richard Valenzuela’s body was south, lying prone, head directed south 17 feet from the wreckage; Charles Holley’s body, also in the prone position, was lying southwest, head directed southwest, 17 feet from the wreckage; and J.P. Richardson’s body, lying partly prone and partly on the right side, was northwest of the wreckage, head directed south 40 feet from the wreckage, across the fence in a picked cornfield. Fine snow which fell lightly after the crash had drifted slightly about the bodies and wreckage. Some parts of each body had been frozen by ten hours’ exposure in temperature reported to have been near 18 degrees during that time. The three bodies on the ground were removed before I left. Peterson’s body was removed after permission was granted by the inspector for the Civil Aeronautics Board and Federal Aviation Agency. This was done by Deputy Sheriffs Wm. McGill and Lowell Sandquist using metal cutting tools to open a space in the wreckage.

At the scene of the crash Mr. Carroll Anderson was helpful in tentatively identifying the bodies from the clothing.

A large brown leather suitcase with one catch open lay near one leg of Charles Holley, and about 8ft. north of the same body lay a travel case with brown leather ends and sides of a light plaid color. This measured approximately 15 in. x 12 in. x 6 in.

A billfold containing the name of Tommy Douglas Allsup and a leather pocket case marked with the name, “Ritchie Valens” were brought to me at the scene by Deputy Sheriff inspecting the ground over which the wreckage had skidded and rolled.

Glen Kellogg of Clear Lake took some photos of the scene at the request of Sheriff Jerry Allen and me. News and TV photographers also took still pictures and movies of the scene.

The plane was a Beech-Craft Bonanza, No. N3794N, painted red, with white and black trim. Deputy Sheriff Lowell Sandquist, an experienced pilot, who has flown in and out of the Mason City airport, was present when the radio and navigational equipment from the plane were examined. He reports the radio to have been set for listening and talking to the Mason City Airport Station MCW, and the navigational equipment to have been correctly set for a course from Mason City to Fargo, N.D.

Arrangements for the flight were made by Mr. Carroll Anderson, Manager of the Surf Ballroom at Clear Lake, Iowa, with Mr. H.J. Dwyer, fixed base operator for the Mason City Airport. The reasons given to Mr. Anderson for the flight were that all three passengers wished to reach their next destination in their itinerary ahead of the chartered bus which carried the rest of the troupe in order to have some laundry done. Mr. Anderson drove the three passengers to the airport in his family automobile. Accompanying him were his wife and 8-year-old son. They saw the plane take off and make its circle to take up its course.

The Air Traffic Communication Center of the Federal Aviation Agency at the Mason City Municipal Airport. reported to me that at 0058 on February 3rd, the wind was south, gusty to 20 M.P.H., temperature 18 degrees F., dew point 11. In takeoff, the plane followed a normal procedure using the runway toward the south and turning in a counterclockwise direction. The amount of snow falling from midnight to 6:30 A.M. on February 3rd was listed as a trace.

Further information from them was that as the pilot taxied down the runway he communicated by radio with the tower and secured additional information about the weather en route. He told the officer in charge in the tower he would file a flight plan after getting in the air. When this information did not come in, the officer tried to reach the pilot without getting a reply.

An official investigation was carried on by a crew of field representatives headed by Mr. C.E. Stillwagon of the Civil Aeronautics Board, Bureau of Safety Investigation, 4825 Treost Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri, and Mr. A.J. Prokop, Federal Aviation Agency, Des Moines office. This group spent three days on the investigation arriving here the evening of February 3rd. They visited the scene of the crash for preliminary survey before dark that day.

I, Ralph E. Smiley, M.D., Acting Coroner of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, on the 4th day of February, 1959 hereby certify that the above facts are made of record after diligent investigation and I believe them to be correct.

J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson’s Body Exhumed

In March of 2007, the body of J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson was exhumed at the request of his son, Jay Richardson.  Dr. Bill Bass, a forensic anthropologist at the University of Tennessee, looked at the remains in Beaumont, Texas.  

A gun that belonged to Buddy Holly was found at the crash site, fueling rumors that the pilot was shot and perhaps Richardson survived the crash and was trying to get help.  “I was hoping to put the rumors to rest,” Richardson said.  Bass took X-rays of the body and found nothing to support those theories.  Richardson had “fractures from head to toe. Massive fractures. … (He) died immediately.”

The casket of J.P. Richardson, better know as 1950’s pop star “The Big Bopper”, was photographed at Broussard’s Funeral Home just before his 1959 burial.  The guitar-shaped wreath at left was sent by then-U.S. Army Pfc. Elvis Presley.