The Buddy Holly plane crash, which claimed the life of the singer, including fellow rock 'n' roll stars Ritchie Valens and Jiles P Richardson - commonly known as the Big Bopper - is being re-investigated by U.S. transport safety experts. The US National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that the review on the Buddy Holly plane crash was due to a request by an aviation expert.
"We are reviewing the petition to reconsider the Buddy Holly crash, based on criteria in our 'regs'," the U.S. NTSB said in a statement.
The NTSB rules state that petitions should either be based on the discovery of new evidence or indications that previous conclusions into former investigations such as the Buddy Holly plane crash had been inaccurate.
The Mason City Globe Gazette reported that the NTSB received the request into the Buddy Holly plane crash re-investigation from a self-described retired pilot and aircraft dispatcher from New England named L.J. Coon.
Coon reportedly asked the board to look at other possible contributing factors to the Buddy Holly plane crash. Coon also told the Gazette that he believes the pilot's "heroic" actions could be seen in a new light, according to the BBC.
In an email, Coon told CNN that the NTSB include the aircraft's weight and balance calculations (for passengers, baggage and fuel), possible issues with rudder panels and possible carburetor Induction icing.
Coon's email also said that the NTSB has written in February:
"You have gotten our attention," saying further that they would re-examine the information Coon has provided them of the Buddy Holly plane crash.
The NTSB never closes a case entirely. However, any petition to re-examine a crash needs to show that there is new information suggesting the original probable cause had been incorrect, said NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss.
The Buddy Holly plane crash occurred in 1959. Holly, hit singer of "Peggy Sue" and "That'll Be the Day" was 22. Holly, who was with Valens and Richardson, died shortly after their plane took off from Mason City Municipal Airport, near Clear Lake, Iowa early the next morning, reported Reuters.
Also killed was the 21-year-old pilot of the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza, Roger Peterson.
The Civil Aeronautics Board carried out the investigation into the Buddy Holly plane crash several months later. The investigation, conducted 56 years ago, blamed the accident primarily on the pilot's lack of qualification and certification to fly solely by instruments and secondarily on an inadequate weather briefing (PDF), reported CNN.
Holly reportedly only hired the plane after heating problems occurred on his tour bus. The crash happened while the group was headed to their next tour date in Moorhead, Minnesota, after completing a concert in Clear Lake, Iowa.
Don McLean, inspired by Holly's music, memorialized the Buddy Holly plane crash in his 1971 song "American Pie," calling it "The Day the Music Died."
The Buddy Holly plane crash petition has two months for the NTSB to be reviewed and decided upon whether there is indeed new information that would suffice for revisiting of the case.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
