Review: Music's Broken Wings - Fifty Years of Aviation Accidents in the Music Industry

Pilot/Author William P. Heitman has written a very unique text entitled Music's Broken Wings. This text, which I believe just might be the first of its kind, is an account of the plane crashes that killed popular music's most cherished star. Buddy Holly, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Jim Croce, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Randy Rhoads, and Ricky Nelson are among the stories here.

But this is not some half-baked music history coffee table book. These are the actual official reports, accident files, and stories of the crashes themselves. This book actually is written from a pilot's point of view as much as a musician's. Issues like flight plans, spatial disorientation, weather problems and the like are covered in detail about each of these doomed flights. This gives the reader some much-needed insight into the tragic stories. As an example: the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens (Clear Lake, IA 2/3/59) is one of the most discussed accounts in recent music history, and one of the most closely scrutinized. Heitman's book explores and provides all of the official documentation about the crash, in terms of reports, and eyewitness testimony. The book also offers accounts about the model of plane, its specifications/ratings, and it's manufacturer history. Each chapter does this for each crash account.