The demise of “Miss You” singer Oliver Tree on Sunday (June 14) in a helicopter crash in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was the most recent in a distressingly lengthy listing of aviation accidents involving helicopters and small plane which have taken the lives of beloved artists, their band mates and outstanding live performance promoters.
From the Feb. 3, 1959 weather-related crash of a small airplane close to Clear Lake, Iowa that killed early rock icons Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Huge Bopper” Richardson — generally known as “the day the music died,” in honor of Don McLean’s 1971 track “American Pie” — to the deaths of six individuals, together with 32-year-old Tree (born Oliver Tree Nickell) over the previous weekend, lethal aviation accidents can typically really feel like a darkish cloud looming over the music business.
The listing of tragic airborne deaths over the previous half-century or so reads like a grim, flashing signpost in regards to the potential risks of eschewing industrial flights or highway journey in favor of taking off in smaller craft. A listing of simply among the lives misplaced in such accidents consists of:
- Patsy Cline — Piper PA-24 Comanche small airplane crashed in dangerous climate on March 5, 1963, killing Cline, 30, and fellow nation artists Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins.
- Jim Croce — Beechcraft E18S twin-engine gentle craft crashed shortly after takeoff as a consequence of fog on Sept. 20, 1973, killing Croce, 30, and 5 others.
- Randy Rhoades — beloved Ozzy Osbourne guitarist, 25, died on March 19, 1982 when the single-engine, four-seat airplane flown (with out permission) by bus driver/non-public pilot Andrew Aycock tried to buzz Osbourne’s tour bus, however clipped its wing on the highest of the car, sending the airplane right into a lethal tailspin.
- Stevie Ray Vaughn — the 35-year-old blues guitarist/singer and 4 others died on Aug. 27 1990 when the twin-engine Bell helicopter they had been driving in after a present at Alpine Valley Music Theater in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin crashed into a close-by ski hill after takeoff as a consequence of poor visibility.
- John Denver — skilled pilot Denver, 53, died when his gentle, homebuilt Rutan Lengthy-EZ two-seater crashed into Monterey Bay on Oct. 12, 1997 as a consequence of a hard-to-reach gas selector deal with.
- Aaliyah — twin-engine Cessna 402 gentle airplane crashed and caught fireplace after takeoff from Abaco Islands within the Bahamas on Aug. 25, 2001, killing the singer, 22, and eight others; investigators discovered that it was overloaded with baggage and the pilot was not licensed to fly that form of plane.
- Jenni Rivera — Mexican singer/actress, 36, died on Dec 9, 2012 when the 10-seat Learjet she and 6 others had been touring in crashed close to Iturbide, Mexico, as a consequence of what investigators decided was a lack of management brought on by unknown causes.
The tally additionally consists of soul icon Otis Redding, early rocker Ricky Nelson, Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Ronnie Van Zant (and guitarist Steve Gaines), nation singer Troy Gentry of Montgomery Gentry, live performance promoter Invoice Graham, Colombian singer Yeison Jiménez and, in 1991, eight members of nation icon Reba McEntire’s band when the wing of the twin-engine govt jet they had been touring in hit a rock on the aspect of Otay Mountain close to San Diego.
So why do artists take the seeming danger of flying on smaller planes and helicopters? Usually occasions, if they’ll afford it, it permits them to keep away from hassles of delayed, crowded industrial flights the place they danger arriving late to gigs, having their gear misplaced, stolen or broken, getting sick when crowded in with a whole lot of different passengers or being descended upon by adoring followers or paparazzi. Such flights may also take among the time strain off flying between gigs, permitting them to take off on their very own schedule and pull off tight turnaround occasions.
Such jet-setting is just not low cost, although, with journeys on non-public jets ranging between $15,000 to $250,000 per flight or extra, and a few planes clocking in at $50,000 an hour. The dangers are additionally considerably greater, with the aviation/accident harm legislation agency rESQ reporting that non-public jets (particularly the enterprise sort usually utilized by musicians) expertise roughly 0.1-0.3 deadly accidents per 100,000 flight hours, versus roughly 0.006 for scheduled industrial flights and 0.9-1.1 for basic aviation total, in response to Nationwide Transportation Security Board information. (The report additionally famous that crashes involving “true enterprise jets” comparable to Gulfstreams or Citations, are “uncommon occasions,” with most deadly basic aviation accidents involving small, single-engine piston plane, not turbine-powered non-public jets.)
So, why do the celebrities nonetheless do it?
“There’s clearly a excessive invincibility issue right here, form of like, ‘Why do artists do medication?’,” says Rob DelliBovi, founder and CEO of RDB Hospitality, which coordinates journey and lodging for musicians and different shoppers who can afford the excessive value of bypassing industrial journey. “They’ve made it via the ranks they usually don’t assume something can occur to them.”
However, he provides, because the tragic 2020 helicopter crash involving Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant that killed the basketball legend, his 13-year-old daughter and 7 others, his shoppers have undoubtedly proven a heightened consciousness and give attention to security. “Persons are extra involved now with, ‘Is that this good gear? What’s the [plane’s] tail quantity? Are there two pilots? Does the airplane have an unblemished security report?,’” he cited as among the many questions he regularly will get now, typically straight from the artist.
Michael Henderson, proprietor of Authorized Eagles Aviation, which makes a speciality of accident reconstruction and aviation security — with founder Henderson usually appearing as knowledgeable witnesses in aviation-related courtroom circumstances — says another excuse shoppers may go for non-public is an absence of dependable routes between locations, or, most crucially, the necessity for velocity. He too notes, nonetheless, that that need doesn’t trump a have to really feel safe in a smaller plane.
Henderson rejects the notion that non-public air journey is way more harmful than industrial, noting that the usually ex-military or ex-commercial pilots who fly “135” plane — the FAA designation for industrial, non-scheduled, on-demand air carriers comparable to non-public jet charters or air taxis — are sometimes simply as, or extra certified than some industrial pilots in the case of hours within the air and security coaching. “These aren’t rookies. They’re extremely skilled.”
As well as, the physicist and part-time musician says the form of 135 planes they fly usually have a extremely concentrated upkeep group as a result of they can’t afford important downtime, given their on-demand nature. They’re additionally on the service of artists who can afford to pay for bespoke service and, who’re, frankly, usually within the air far more than the common flier.
“It’s a math factor — the extra your roll the cube the extra probably you’ll get snake eyes and the upper the likelihood of failure, which isn’t totally different for musicians than anybody else,” says Henderson. He additionally factors out that though the probabilities of being injured or dying on a non-public flight versus industrial flights is identical for musicians, we usually tend to hear about it due to their notoriety.
Plus, in some areas, comparable to Latin America, artists’ routing may require non-public flight as a result of industrial carriers should not have common, well timed service to the cities and areas the place occasions happen. In Mexico, artists, comparable to late singer Rivera, should journey by non-public airplane as a result of they guide small city gala’s and personal events in locations the place there isn’t any industrial air service. That’s very true if they’ve a number of gigs in a single night time, which isn’t unusual, making her demise particularly poignant, as a result of, like Jiménez and Brazilian star Marília Mendonça, 26 — who died in a airplane crash in 2021 — they’re genuinely working artists commuting to work.
As one other instance, DelliBovi cited the Lollapalooza festivals in Chile, Argentina and Brazil that always happen both on the identical weekend, or inside every week of one another in March. “It’s the solely choice in case you’re enjoying Sao Paolo on Friday and Buenos Aires on Saturday — there isn’t any different approach that doesn’t contain a connection or a layover that may make it so you may’t get to the second present,” he says, including that the busy European summer time pageant circuit additionally has some bands enjoying a number of gigs over a number of weeks with doubtlessly set-busting journey occasions on industrial carriers.
He additionally pointed to the tremendous high-end Aman resort within the Dominican Republic, a favourite of his shoppers, which he says is sort of three hours from an airport. “You don’t need to spend six hours flying when you may go non-public into a neighborhood airstrip,” he says.
Whereas it was nonetheless unclear at press time what prompted the crash that killed singer Tree, Henderson says in the case of taking off, pilots and their crews have the ultimate say. That’s even when celebrities (and their packed schedules) typically attempt to push them to fly routes that industrial planes can’t, as a result of they’ve much less flexibility to fly round storms or divert to smaller airports that aren’t out there to main carriers.
“It’s as much as the pilot to say, ‘Situations suck, I’m not flying,’” he says of conditions comparable to these previous the Vaughn crash — which the NTSB decided was brought on by foggy situations and the pilot’s lack of certification to fly in poor visibility — referring to the aviation designation of the individual legally chargeable for secure flight, “PIC,” which stands for “pilot in command.”
DelliBovi says because the Bryant accident, artists are extra conscious — and typically, cautious — of flying on helicopters. However, given the choice of getting from JFK airport in New York to Manhattan in 11 minutes on a chopper versus preventing site visitors for 2 hours, “individuals are prepared to do it… and ensuring they ship that further sentence [in the contract] about vetting and {qualifications}. The most important, smartest names are all flying on them, and the quantity of individuals scared to fly is low. It’s value it to them — 90% of artists would [fly private] it if they might afford it — they usually perceive the danger.”
In a 2025 Billboard story on the world of high-end non-public jets, Elevation Aviation Group CEO Greg Raiff stated that whereas helicopters supply probably the most flexibility, “75 or possibly 80% of our prospects refuse to get on one nowadays,” within the wake of the Bryant crash.
The New York Occasions reported that very same 12 months that, in accordance M.I.T. Sloan College of Administration statistics professor Arnold Barrett, the danger of dying on a [commercial] flight is “near zero,” with the final 5 years among the many “most secure within the historical past of economic aviation.” By comparability, the chances of dying in a automobile crash are about 1 in 95. The paper additionally famous that the common deadly accident charge for all U.S. helicopters from 2019-2023 was 0.690 per 100,000 flight hours, which was considerably greater than that for industrial and constitution planes. As well as, helicopters had an accident charge of three.92 per 100,000 hours, versus 1.04 for constitution companies and 0.15 for industrial airways.
The value tag is usually eye-popping for these flights, however DelliBovi means that identical to you wouldn’t need to go for a extra reasonably priced physician when getting main surgical procedure, he counsels his shoppers that “cheaper is just not higher.” If a airplane’s proprietor presents a $10,000 low cost over one other certified service, “I might inform them to not guide that airplane. We’re flying across the largest names on the earth and we will’t afford to fiddle with ‘Johnny’s Airplane Firm.’”
When it comes all the way down to it, Henderson says there may be “monumental” strain on non-public pilots to get their well-known shoppers the place they’re going as quick and effectively as doable. And whereas tragic movie star flying-related deaths make headlines and make it look like they’re frequent occurrences, “It’s truly much less harmful in case you do the maths,” he says in regards to the likelihood of a musician dying or being severely injured in a non-public aviation accident over that of a civilian or CEO perishing in that very same method.
“What number of musicians are flying day-after-day and what number of crashes are there? It’s usually no totally different than anybody else flying in a 135, from a bricklayer to a rodeo star.”
