The Day The Music Died

Departed right from our airport, MCW.
 
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In 1955, Roger Peterson of Alta, Iowa, earned his private pilot license at the age of 16, the earliest age to qualify. Even before getting his license, he'd flown extensively with his pilot father. At age 19, he received a commercial license, and in the same year married his high school sweetheart, Deanne Lenz. They set up residence in Clear Lake, Iowa, but both worked in Mason City, a short drive away. He flew planes for Dwyer Flying Service, and had a lot of experience. He'd flown the company's Beechcraft Bonanza all across the United States, from California to New York and Florida. His wife worked at KGLO-TV.
He scratched for money to support what he and his wife hoped would be a growing family. He also worked to accumulate flight hours to qualify for a better job. On the night of February 2, 1959, he came to the Madison Airport to await the arrival of three passengers going to Fargo, North Dakota, about a 90 minute flight.
After his passengers arrived from the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, they took off at 1:00 A.M. on the morning of the 3rd. He faced bleak flying conditions -- a bitterly cold, overcast, moonless night with an approaching storm. The pitch black Iowa farm land offered no visible horizon. Within 18 minutes the plane crashed into a farm field, killing all aboard.
Four young lives were taken. Roger Peterson was 22. One of his passenger, Ritchie Valens, was only 17 years old. Charles "Buddy" Hardin Holley was 23 years old. The oldest of the three passengers, at 28, was Jiles Perry "J. P." Richardson Jr., better know as the Big Bopper.
February 3, 1959 is known as the Day the Music Died. It is also the day a young pilot died.
The investigation could find no mechanical problems with the severely damaged plane. The CAB (now the FAA) gave the main cause of the crash as "pilot error" although they did cite flying conditions as a factor.
 
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http://lessonslearned.faa.gov/BeechcraftBonanza/Bonanza_Accident_pop_up.htm
 
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Stingray Don said:
I had never heard about the issue with the AI. I never knew some had the pitch reversed.
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I never heard that either. It sounds like a horribly bad idea. Was it some archaic instrument that was installed or Sperry's idea of what they thought was a good new idea? I can see how it would be mechanically simpler but to sell it to pilots trained on the opposite standard seems criminal.
 
Everytime I read more about the possible causes of the crash, I find contradictions to what I'd previously believed to be a possible factor. I no longer think the squirrelly AI was an important factor.
 
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tinerj said:
I know longer think the squirrelly AI was an important factor.
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Not sure what you mean. Are you saying the Sperry F3 attitude indicator wasn't an important factor? In the picture above, you would know to push the stick forward to return the nose to the horizon? I'm pretty sure it would have killed me too.
 
Not if he was used to flying with it. Was it installed just prior to crash?
 
Paulie said:
Not if he was used to flying with it. Was it installed just prior to crash?
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Well, he only had 52 hours of total instrument time, at least 40 of which were four months before the plane with the Sperry F3 was purchased (http://data.desmoinesregister.com/holly/documents/CABreport.pdf), probably more than 40, then, at the time of his failed instrument flight test. But the accident report states "Almost all of his Bonanza time was acquired during charter flights." Those flights were all VFR, since the operator didn't have IFR authorization and the report doesn't say whether the Bonanza time was in the accident airplane or other ones. So, he may not have had any time in the accident airplane or had all 128 VFR Bonanza hours in it.

The report also mentions Peterson had a hearing problem discovered by his AME a week or so after he failed his instrument test. He then passed a flight test demonstration and received a waiver eight months after his second class medical exam, at the end of November. Was he able to do much instrument training in the meantime, over the summer and fall, in the accident Bonanza after it was bought in July? My experience as a CFI leads me to conclude he was probably too busy to stay proficient on instrument flying himself, spending his time mostly on his students and VFR charters, assuming he was allowed to fly pending the issuance of the waiver.
 
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Stingray Don said:
I had never heard about the issue with the AI. I never knew some had the pitch reversed.
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Everything aviation-related that I've ever read mentioned the Sperry AI that read opposite to what he was used to. This brief summary above is the only thing I've read that said he was a "very experienced" pilot. Any idea on his hours?
 
ejensen said:
I believe it was the start of 135 charter regs.
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More specifically, it was the requirement that commercial pilots have instrument ratings for all but the most trivial flights. Part 135 wouldn't exist for years after that. The precursor to part 135, the air taxi certificate, predates this crash by a number of years.
 
dtuuri said:
Sperry_lg.jpg
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This is a night time Attitude Indicator, to be used at night only. There was a switch to change the AI from night to day use. The black on top was supposed to simulate a dark night time sky. Push the switch and it would flop over for day time use.





Ok, don't get into an uproar, I made up the story....
 
flyingron said:
More specifically, it was the requirement that commercial pilots have instrument ratings for all but the most trivial flights. Part 135 wouldn't exist for years after that. The precursor to part 135, the air taxi certificate, predates this crash by a number of years.
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Like I said. The Beginning
 
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