Ultimate Rhoads

Has his version of events already been posted here? If so, I don't want to post it again and re-hash an old discussion.

As far as i know Jake has never mentioned his account of the day. He would of been interviewed by the police, but he has never wanted to share his memories of that tragic accident. I can understand why and for some people rocks are best left unturned.

Poor guy. He witnessed the whole thing. It tore his guts out watching that. I'm sure he was traumatized. His silence on the subject is understood.

But.... That said, I would be interested in his account of it.

GUITARIDOL5682 wrote:As far as i know Jake has never mentioned his account of the day. He would of been interviewed by the police, but he has never wanted to share his memories of that tragic accident. I can understand why and for some people rocks are best left unturned.

OK then, from research I've been compiling about that day, as a "fresh" look at the events, one of the things I found is this. There are other developments that have surfaced as well, such as the apparent modification to the plane that isn't reflected anywhere in air transport records. I'm certainly willing to share info as things progress, but if anyone has objections to the topic, I will leave it off the forum. I know this is an upsetting and touchy subject.

ozzy blanked me?what does that mean?

Tito wrote:ozzy blanked me?what does that mean?

I think it means he just stared blankly at him for a few moments....i.e.....couldn't think of or didn't know what to say to him....

thanks rokket!!

thanks for posting that

my guess is either he punched him and they put "blank" in there or possibly he just stone walled him and that is a British term for it ?

anyone from across the pond know if that might be the case ?

or it could be a miss print and it was supposed to say "blamed" which is what I personally think

I have a tendency to think that no one will ever know what really happened that day and lately I tend to think
along the lines of the one theory discussed in a thread here where the pilot had a cocaine induced head rush
or heart attack and passed out and randy tried his best to save everyone

but you know when it is your time to go it is your time to go... people a lot of times try to make sense of things
when there is no real answer and in cases like this try to point fingers or what have ya
but the master if the universe is in control and it is his plan being carried out whether it makes sense or not


visit my site: www.blindmojojohnny.com

Blind Mojo Johnny wrote:thanks for posting that

my guess is either he punched him and they put "blank" in there or possibly he just stone walled him and that is a British term for it ?

anyone from across the pond know if that might be the case ?

or it could be a miss print and it was supposed to say "blamed" which is what I personally think

I have a tendency to think that no one will ever know what really happened that day and lately I tend to think
along the lines of the one theory discussed in a thread here where the pilot had a cocaine induced head rush
or heart attack and passed out and randy tried his best to save everyone

but you know when it is your time to go it is your time to go... people a lot of times try to make sense of things
when there is no real answer and in cases like this try to point fingers or what have ya
but the master if the universe is in control and it is his plan being carried out whether it makes sense or not


visit my site: http://www.blindmojojohnny.com

Heart attack was ruled out in Aycocks autopsy, that theory is bust. Ruled out for Rachal and Randy as well.

Cocaine induced head rush is also bust as cocaine shows up in blood at least 24-48 hrs after you take it, it only showed up in Aycock's urine test, where residue of cocaine can linger for up to a week after you take it. The theory that he passed out from fatigue is more plausible, he had been up all night driving the bus.

Another theory out the window, is one discussed a fair bit here, that he was trying to act like a pilot from the movie "Pearl Harbour" that was watched the night before, but it was mentioned by almost everyone that he was driving the bus all night......you can't drive a bus and watch a movie at the same time.

As for Don watching a struggle in the plane via his telescopic camera lens.......well being a photographer for many years, shooting concerts, wildlife, and a keen astro-photographer, I find it hard to believe for two reasons.

1- tracking and keeping focus on a reasonably fast moving object, even a plane, is difficult at best, especially if you are zoomed in, which to see whats going on in a cockpit with any certainty, you would have to be. Even having your camera on a tripod, would still make it difficult. When not using a tripod, camera shake is a bitch, no lens stability technology back then. I would guess the photos Don took were not zoomed in, but rather wide shots. Grab an old SLR camera and try it for yourself.

2- Don says he took a few photos, and then turned his back to walk away, when he glanced back over his shoulder, the wing almost collected him, and the accident unfolded. So why, if watching a struggle in the cockpit would he stop watching, turn your back and walk away? And there was no reason for him not to mention that to the police either. Why did he turn and walk away, well maybe he thought they'd made their last pass.

I think a lot of people have put too many theories forward, and have in some cases gone way to far with over complicating the accident.

People seem to prefer to believe Don and Jake don't talk because there is something to hide, a big conspiracy, rather than the fact that it was a horrible day and they just don't want to talk about it.

Cheers for posting up that article from Jake Duncan. I have emailed Jake in the past and talked to him about his career on the road working with different bands. But the minute i have mentioned Ozzy and the plane crash. He has refused to comment so it is a surprise to see someone has managed to get him to talk about that day.. I don't know if Peter Margolis managed to get an interview from Jake for his docu ?.
That is a saying in the UK when someone 'blanks you'.. They are ignoring you and not giving you the time of day. I can understand that someone had to have some kind of blame for Randy and Rachel's death. I remember $haron attacking Jake for letting him get on the plane and i know at the time you would of been looking for an answer. No one was at fault for the accident apart from Aycock's mad flying antics. If the people on board the plane had said ok lets go 'loop the loop' and can we have a pearl harbour Kamikaze style dive bombing swoop on the tour bus please. I just cannot imagine Randy putting in any requests like that. So he may of been trying to shout some sense into Aycock to stop his stunt pilot antics. A struggle may have happened in the cock pit. But like you merntioned i think this would of been very hard to see on the ground and the speed of the plane etc. Someone touching the controls of the plane, that could of been enough for the plane to clip the tour bus.
As far as any conspiracy or cover up, whats to cover up ?. It was a tragic accident, a joy ride that went horribly wrong. The only covering up that was done was on Tommy Aldridge's part. When he scattered the bag of Aycock's cocaine into the woods. Was this done to hide anything or was this done with the idea of 'Shit! he was on coke and flying the plane ?'. The police will want to know where the coke came from ?. You could speculate and twist the story, but at the end of the day the final result will never change, the story will always have a tragic end.

GUITARIDOL5682 wrote:Cheers for posting up that article from Jake Duncan. I have emailed Jake in the past and talked to him about his career on the road working with different bands. But the minute i have mentioned Ozzy and the plane crash. He has refused to comment so it is a surprise to see someone has managed to get him to talk about that day.. I don't know if Peter Margolis managed to get an interview from Jake for his docu ?.
That is a saying in the UK when someone 'blanks you'.. They are ignoring you and not giving you the time of day. I can understand that someone had to have some kind of blame for Randy and Rachel's death. I remember $haron attacking Jake for letting him get on the plane and i know at the time you would of been looking for an answer. No one was at fault for the accident apart from Aycock's mad flying antics. If the people on board the plane had said ok lets go 'loop the loop' and can we have a pearl harbour Kamikaze style dive bombing swoop on the tour bus please. I just cannot imagine Randy putting in any requests like that. So he may of been trying to shout some sense into Aycock to stop his stunt pilot antics. A struggle may have happened in the cock pit. But like you merntioned i think this would of been very hard to see on the ground and the speed of the plane etc. Someone touching the controls of the plane, that could of been enough for the plane to clip the tour bus.
As far as any conspiracy or cover up, whats to cover up ?. It was a tragic accident, a joy ride that went horribly wrong. The only covering up that was done was on Tommy Aldridge's part. When he scattered the bag of Aycock's cocaine into the woods. Was this done to hide anything or was this done with the idea of 'Shit! he was on coke and flying the plane ?'. The police will want to know where the coke came from ?. You could speculate and twist the story, but at the end of the day the final result will never change, the story will always have a tragic end.

Well put. I think the reason Tommy threw the coke away was not so much about Aycock, more the fact that obviously the police would turn up, and the bus is part of the scene, therefore it would be searched. Who's coke was it, could have been anyone's. If it were Aycock's then they could have left it where it was and claimed no knowledge of it. "That dodgy bastard, we never knew he had that". But finger prints might tell a different story...!

rokket wrote:

GUITARIDOL5682 wrote:As far as i know Jake has never mentioned his account of the day. He would of been interviewed by the police, but he has never wanted to share his memories of that tragic accident. I can understand why and for some people rocks are best left unturned.

OK then, from research I've been compiling about that day, as a "fresh" look at the events, one of the things I found is this. There are other developments that have surfaced as well, such as the apparent modification to the plane that isn't reflected anywhere in air transport records. I'm certainly willing to share info as things progress, but if anyone has objections to the topic, I will leave it off the forum. I know this is an upsetting and touchy subject.

Thnx Rokket!
Never heard Jake speaking about the accident. It's kind of tragic he did even warned Aycock first before he took up Randy & Rachel......... Must be terrible for him afterwards....

Jake seems like a nice guy....but even though i hate Sharon's guts with a passion, she had a right to be pissed at him. He's the tour manager and he didn't do his job by letting them on that plane. He should have never let that happen.

halo8th wrote: He should have never let that happen.

When managing Ozzy's band, I guess he had to deal with alot of potentially dangerous stuff.. But yeah, this should not be allowed... But who knew what about who at the moment they were going to fly..

Well, Andy had just completed an 8-10 hour drive. Now he wants to operate a plane? That alone says bad idea.
Supposedly Randy was to meet Paul Chapman who knew a dentist in Orlando that was going to help with Randy's problems stemming from the wisdom teeth he had extracted recently.
Instead of dealing with that, we're going to wast a few hours of the band's day off dicking around at a rural bus depot/air strip in the middle of nowhere?
It is a terrible thing for Jake to carry with him, but I would imagine in hindsight he probably wishes he had Andy drive the extra half hour to the hotel in Orlando and anyone who wanted to fly with him could go back with him.
I would also think that once Sharon was awake, she would have put the kibosh on those plans anyway.
It's easy to point the finger at Andy, but Jake made the decision to let the band members fly, and Randy made the choice to get on the plane, regardless of his fears or physical condition.

~T.