Randy Rhoads
Randy Rhoads' last show was played on Thursday March 18, 1982 at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee. On March 19, 1982, the band was headed to a festival in Orlando, Florida. After driving much of the night, they stopped on the property belonging to Jerry Calhoun, owner of "Florida Coach", in Leesburg, Florida. On it, there was a small airstrip lined with small helicopters and planes, and two houses. One belonged to the tour bus driver, Andrew Aycock, and the other was owned by Calhoun. Aycock talked the band's keyboardist, Don Airey, into taking a test flight in a '55 Beechcraft Bonanza F-35. In some accounts, it was said that the manager Jake Dunkan was also on this first flight. The joyride ended, and the plane landed safely. Then Aycock took Rhoads and hairdresser/seamstress Rachel Youngblood on another flight. Airey presuaded Rhoads to go on the second flight, despite his well known fear of flying. Rhoads apparently agreed to go because of a couple of reasons: First, the seamstress had a heart condition, and so Aycock agreed to do nothing risky. Besides that, one of Randy's hobbies was photography, and he wanted to take an aerial photo. Apparently, during the second flight, a few attempts were made to "buzz" the tour bus where the other band members were sleeping.[2] They succeeded two times, but the third was a botched attempt. The left wing clipped the back side of the tour bus by accident, busted the fiberglass roof, then sent the plane spiraling, severing the top of a pine tree and crashing into the garage of a nearby mansion, bursting into flames. Rhoads, age 25, was killed instantly, as were Aycock, 36, and Youngblood, 58. All three bodies were burned beyond recognition, and were identified by dental records. It was later revealed in an autopsy that Aycock's system showed traces of cocaine at the time; Rhoads' toxicology test revealed the strongest thing in his bloodstream was nicotine. The NTSB investigation also determined that Aycock's medical certificate was expired and that the biennial flight review required for all pilots was overdue.[3]
Randy's funeral was held at the First Lutheran Church in Burbank, CA. He is interred at Mountain View Cemetery in San Bernardino, California where his grandparents are also buried.
Wikipedia
Randy Rhoads
Randy Rhoads' last show was played on Thursday March 18, 1982 at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee. On March 19, 1982, the band was headed to a festival in Orlando, Florida. After driving much of the night, they stopped on the property belonging to Jerry Calhoun, owner of "Florida Coach", in Leesburg, Florida. On it, there was a small airstrip lined with small helicopters and planes, and two houses. One belonged to the tour bus driver, Andrew Aycock, and the other was owned by Calhoun. Aycock talked the band's keyboardist, Don Airey, into taking a test flight in a '55 Beechcraft Bonanza F-35. In some accounts, it was said that the manager Jake Dunkan was also on this first flight. The joyride ended, and the plane landed safely. Then Aycock took Rhoads and hairdresser/seamstress Rachel Youngblood on another flight. Airey presuaded Rhoads to go on the second flight, despite his well known fear of flying. Rhoads apparently agreed to go because of a couple of reasons: First, the seamstress had a heart condition, and so Aycock agreed to do nothing risky. Besides that, one of Randy's hobbies was photography, and he wanted to take an aerial photo. Apparently, during the second flight, a few attempts were made to "buzz" the tour bus where the other band members were sleeping.[2] They succeeded two times, but the third was a botched attempt. The left wing clipped the back side of the tour bus by accident, busted the fiberglass roof, then sent the plane spiraling, severing the top of a pine tree and crashing into the garage of a nearby mansion, bursting into flames. Rhoads, age 25, was killed instantly, as were Aycock, 36, and Youngblood, 58. All three bodies were burned beyond recognition, and were identified by dental records. It was later revealed in an autopsy that Aycock's system showed traces of cocaine at the time; Rhoads' toxicology test revealed the strongest thing in his bloodstream was nicotine. The NTSB investigation also determined that Aycock's medical certificate was expired and that the biennial flight review required for all pilots was overdue.[3]
Randy's funeral was held at the First Lutheran Church in Burbank, CA. He is interred at Mountain View Cemetery in San Bernardino, California where his grandparents are also buried.
Wikipedia