Following the news of a Learjet 60 business jet crash in South Florida that killed nine people, Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, who survived a Learjet 60 crash in 2008, has offered his condolences to the families of the victims.
As reported by the Associated Press, the Learjet 60 business jet nose-dived in a residential area in Palm Beach County, exploding into a fireball that narrowly missed nearby homes and cars. All nine people on board the plane en route to the Bahamas, which was captured crashing into the ground by dashcam footage of drivers nearby, were killed in the accident.
In a post responding to the news, Travis Barker wrote on X, formerly Twitter, “Heartbreaking 🙏 💔.”
On September 19, 2008, Barker was one of two survivors of a business jet crash that killed four, including both of the pilots. The jet was the exact same model of jet, a Learjet 60, involved in the South Florida crash. The other survivor of the crash was disc jockey Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein. The jet overran the runway at Columbia Metropolitan Airport and crashed into South Carolina Highway 302. Goldstein later revealed he was asleep during the crash and woke up to hear Barker screaming.
Understandably, Barker developed a fear of flying as a result of the incident. He only flew on a plane for the first time since the crash in 2021, boarding a private jet with his wife Kourtney Kardashian, Kris Jenner, and Cory Gamble for a vacation in Cabo, Mexico. He previously vowed to never fly again.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the Learjet 60 crash in South Florida on Sunday (Nov. 1), describing the incident as a “horrific tragedy.” The aircraft was headed to the Bahamas after taking off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas. The pilots reported turbulence, icing, and precipitation during the flight, and later entered a steep dive, reaching up to 30,000 feet per minute. An investigation into the crash is ongoing.
