Don Airey Pre-Crash Photo

[JNH]

Hey gang.....i'm 99% sure this is one of the shots Don took that fateful morning before the accident. As you can see, there is no damage yet to the tour bus, tree and house/garage. There is a similar pic in Andrew Klein's book, except in color. The only thing throwing me off is in the reproduction sketch/photo.....the bus is parked in a east/west direction (front of house facing north) but in this pic, the bus is parked in a west/east direction. This is obviously taken way before Tommy Aldridge moved the bus, post-crash. Thoughts??

[GUITARIDOL5682]

This photo has been talked about before on here. It's not from that time as the palm trees are something that happened years later. The large fir tree that the plane crashed into is not there...

[JNH]

You know, on closer inspection you're absolutely correct.....i was able to magnify the pic, and could easily tell for starters, the tour-bus was blatantly photo shopped into the fore-ground. Yes, there is a palm tree sticking out just above the bus (which never existed back then) and even the dual fence lines look skewered lol. Thanx for pointing this out. Looks like some numpty used a bit of modern technology to try and create some excitement. Good eye buddy.

[stealaway]

Yeah, when not enough "new" stuff is not found, people go and create them, well well...

[dmnjr]

What ever happened to the pic of the plane that was used in the NTSB report? It used to be on BarkatOzz site, a long time ago, but I can’t find it anymore. Apparently it was actually a scan of a photo from the plane banking hard. I thought it was just a sketch but it was the real deal, just very grainy and in black and white. If no one wants to post it I totally understand, I was just taken aback when I read it was an actual replica of the photo. Copy machines in 1982 are nothing like they are now so it’s not like there’s much detail other than you can really tell how much of an angle the plane actually was approaching the bus. Totally messed up.

[GUITARIDOL5682]

What ever happened to the pic of the plane that was used in the NTSB report? It used to be on BarkatOzz site, a long time ago, but I can’t find it anymore. Apparently it was actually a scan of a photo from the plane banking hard. I thought it was just a sketch but it was the real deal, just very grainy and in black and white. If no one wants to post it I totally understand, I was just taken aback when I read it was an actual replica of the photo. Copy machines in 1982 are nothing like they are now so it’s not like there’s much detail other than you can really tell how much of an angle the plane actually was approaching the bus. Totally messed up.

i know the one your on about it used to be in the 'Day the Music Died' links i cannot find it now. It's very much like this photo here...

[magicvoice]

Here ya go!

[dmnjr]

That’s the one.

[stealaway]

Oh my, "The Day The Music Died" !!! I used check that page in the 90s. Great page it was. Does it still exist?

[GUITARIDOL5682]

Oh my, "The Day The Music Died" !!! I used check that page in the 90s. Great page it was. Does it still exist?

All the contents is on here in the index 'The Day the Music Died' is a clue. Don't say you have not noticed..

[stealaway]

You're absolutely right!!! I remembered immediately after writing that!!! Silly bugger me!!!

[Dangling Carrot]

According to what Rudy told me.. Don saw everything that happened and! there was a struggle that was caught on camera. He said the plane was so low the wing got very close to Don. That picture 'Day before the music died" is not a drawing. (reproduction) It is an actual photo of the plane just before it hit the bus that was scanned black and white. Rudy said that don said there was a clear struggle and they believed Andrew was trying to kill his wife who was standing near the bus. Rudy said they had been fighting all the way from Knoxville.

[orion_damage]

Have any other photos been in circulation?

[JNH]

Wondering if that above "pre-crash" photo should have read FRONT of Greyhound style tour bus?? Every pic i've seen of the tour bus after the collision, it's the right (passenger) side of the bus that sustained damage from the wing-clip (diagonal slash and blown-out window)........not the left side of the bus.