Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, DJ AM critically injured in deadly Learjet crash in

[Kenny Guido]

Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, DJ AM critically injured in deadly Learjet crash in South Carolina

By LARRY McSHANE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Updated Saturday, September 20th 2008, 6:11 PM

Loccisano/FilmMagic Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, and DJ AM, who's real name is Adam Goldstein, after a performance in Five Points, S.C. Friday. They are both in critical condition after a deadly plane crash.

Flashnick/AP The scene of the plane crash, in which 4 people died. Barker and Goldstein were the only survivors, and both are severely burned.


Former blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and celebrity music spinner DJ AM were critically injured early Saturday in a fiery plane crash that killed four people.
The musical duo were the only survivors when the private Learjet - trailing sparks on takeoff - skidded off the runway at a South Carolina airport, tore through a fence and burst into flames before slamming into a highway embankment just after midnight.
TRAVIS BARKER AND DJ AM'S LIVES AND CAREERS: CLICK TO SEE PHOTOS

Air-traffic controllers saw sparks as the plane started out down the runway. "We've seen rubber and airplane pieces on the 8,600-foot runway," said Debbie Hersman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Seconds later, witness William Owens saw the jet hurtle across Route 302 near the Columbia Metropolitan Airport.
Owens saw Barker and DJ AM, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, running and tearing off their burning clothes after getting clear of the plane on the highway.
The pair told him there were four other people on board, and the three men ran toward the burning wreckage.
"We turned to the jet to try and see if there was anything we could do," Owens told NBC affiliate WIS-TV. "But there was nothing anyone could do."
The dead, all California residents, were identified as pilot Sarah Lemmon, 31, of Anaheim, co-pilot James Bland, 52, of Carlsbad, Barker's personal assistant Chris Baker, 29, of Studio City, and Barker's security guard, Charles Still, 25, of Los Angeles.
GALLERY: JET-SET TRAGEDIES

"There was a flash of light. It was a fireball in the dark," witness James Williams, 27, an airport worker, told the Daily News. "I don't know how they got out."
Barker, 32, and Goldstein, 35, were in critical but stable condition Saturday at the Augusta Burn Center in Georgia, said spokeswoman Olena Scarboro.
About 50 of Barker's fans held a vigil in the hospital parking lot, including two who set up drum kits and vowed to play all night.
"We're paying tribute and waiting it out," Nick Joiner, 19, of Athens, Ga., told the Daily News. "Maybe he can hear the music and he'll feel better."
Ryan Meadows, 19, also of Athens, cried when he heard about the accident. "Travis is amazing. We just want him to get well."
Barker's ex-wife and one-time reality show co-star, former Miss USA Shanna Moakler, flew to the hospital from California Saturday morning to comfort the rocker, a source told the Daily News. The pair have two children together.
"Shanna spoke to Travis last night," her mother, Gail, told People magazine. "He was defiant after the accident and didn't want to be lifted in a helicopter, but rather an ambulance, so they had to knock him out."

 

[Kenny Guido]

Goldstein suffered facial burns, and the heavily tattooed Barker was burned from the waist down, according to TMZ.com.
The two are as well-known for their romances as their music. Barker and Moakler starred on MTV's "Meet the Barkers" after his run with the multiplatinum trio blink-182. Goldstein made headlines with his engagement to - and subsequent breakup with - Nicole Richie.
A Richie pal told Us Weekly that the reality TV star "wishes only the best for Adam and hopes he recovers from this." The magazine's Web site also said Goldstein is in a doctor-induced coma so he can undergo skin grafts.
The deejay and the drummer were performing together as TRV-AM. Their flight, headed to Van Nuys, Calif., was leaving hours after the pair played Friday for 10,000 people at a free concert in Columbia. Two other performers from the show - ex-Jane's Addiction singer Perry Farrell and Gavin DeGraw - were not aboard the plane.
"I just hugged them hello less than 24 hours ago. I wish I could hug them now," said Farrell's manager, Peter Kastis.
Goldstein and Barker also performed at the MTV Video Music Awards just two weeks ago.
E! Online reported the passengers may have been aboard the plane only because Baker was in a rush to return to California because his pregnant wife was about to give birth. But TMZ, which initially had the same report, later said sources denied it was true.
Investigators said the cockpit voice recorder had been recovered, but not yet analyzed. The plane had flown in from Teterboro, N.J., E! said.
Bland, the co-pilot, flew anti-drug smuggling missions for 20 years for the U.S. Customs Service and other agencies and was "an absolutely meticulous pilot," said Bland's friend, Tim Ferrill, of Huntington Beach, Calif.
Hersman said the cause of the crash was not immediately clear and that nothing had been ruled out. The weather was clear