Spring Break
Drummer, DJ recover from crash
Issue date: 9/24/08 Section: ARTS & LIFE
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Despite several surgeries for burns over his torso and lower body, former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker is trying to stay positive after a South Carolina plane crash that killed four, including two close friends, a spokesman for the star's clothing company said Tuesday.
"If you make it out of a crash of that magnitude, somebody's looking out for you," said Bill Nosal, Barker's friend and spokesman for Famous Stars and Straps, a Los Angeles-based clothing and accessory line created by the musician. "He's trying to stay upbeat."
Barker and celebrity disc jockey DJ AM, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, survived the Friday night Learjet crash at the main airport in Columbia, S.C., with second- and third-degree burns. One of their doctors at a Georgia burn hospital said he expects them to fully recover.
Pilot Sarah Lemmon, 31, of Anaheim Hills, Calif., and co-pilot James Bland, 52, of Carlsbad, Calif., died of smoke inhalation and burns within minutes of the crash into an embankment about a quarter-mile from the end of the airport's runway. A South Carolina coroner has said Chris Baker, 29, of Studio City, Calif.; and Charles Still, 25, of Los Angeles, close friends of the musicians, died on impact.
Baker was an assistant to Barker and "was like extended family," Nosal said. Still was working as a security guard for the musician, who Nosal said didn't always travel with one. They were on a weekend trip to perform for about 10,000 people in a neighborhood near the University of South Carolina.
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board have not said what caused the crash but did say a cockpit voice recorder revealed that crewmembers thought a tire blew and tried to abort the takeoff but couldn't stop the plane.
"If you make it out of a crash of that magnitude, somebody's looking out for you," said Bill Nosal, Barker's friend and spokesman for Famous Stars and Straps, a Los Angeles-based clothing and accessory line created by the musician. "He's trying to stay upbeat."
Barker and celebrity disc jockey DJ AM, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, survived the Friday night Learjet crash at the main airport in Columbia, S.C., with second- and third-degree burns. One of their doctors at a Georgia burn hospital said he expects them to fully recover.
Pilot Sarah Lemmon, 31, of Anaheim Hills, Calif., and co-pilot James Bland, 52, of Carlsbad, Calif., died of smoke inhalation and burns within minutes of the crash into an embankment about a quarter-mile from the end of the airport's runway. A South Carolina coroner has said Chris Baker, 29, of Studio City, Calif.; and Charles Still, 25, of Los Angeles, close friends of the musicians, died on impact.
Baker was an assistant to Barker and "was like extended family," Nosal said. Still was working as a security guard for the musician, who Nosal said didn't always travel with one. They were on a weekend trip to perform for about 10,000 people in a neighborhood near the University of South Carolina.
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board have not said what caused the crash but did say a cockpit voice recorder revealed that crewmembers thought a tire blew and tried to abort the takeoff but couldn't stop the plane.
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