NEWSTravis Barker & DJ AM Critically Injured in Plane Crash
Sept. 20 2008, Published 5:55 a.m. ET
Travis Barker and DJ AM have been critically injured in a fatal plane crash that killed four others near South Carolina.
Barker and AM's Learjet 60 crashed during takeoff from South Carolina's Columbia Metropolitan Airport just before midnight on Friday. The plane was headed to Van Nuys, Calif.
During a press conference late Saturday morning, a spokeswoman for the National Transportation Safety Board said the plane overran the airstrip and proceeded to hit several of the airport's lights and antenna before hitting an embankment off Highway 302.
Barker and DJ AM are being treated for severe burns at an Augusta, Georgia burn center. Barker was transported by ground to the burn facility. DJ AM was airlifted.
The four dead have been identified as pilot Sarah Lemmon, 31, of Anaheim Hills, Calif., co-pilot James Bland, 52, of Carlsbad, Calif., Travis's assistant, Chris Baker, 29, of Studio City, Calif., and Charles Still, 25, of L.A., Calif.
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Air traffic controllers reportedly "saw sparks coming from the runway" before the crash. Investigators don't know if that was from the aircraft or its engines.
South Carolina resident, William Owens, was driving down a highway next to the airport when he said he saw a fireball go across the road. He told local TV station WIS News 10:
"I didn't know what I had seen--it was maybe 800 feet in front of me, but as I approached it closer though I made out the fire. By then I was able to see the tail of the jet and I recognized it as a jet," Owens said. "the plane It's in flames and the fuel is running across the road and I had to cross the highway."
According to Owens, two men (presumably Travis and DJ AM) were running around and stripping down to extinguish themselves. He said he asked the men if there was anyone else on board the plane and they told him there had been four more with them.
"We turned to the jet to try and see if there was anything we could do, but immediately, there was nothing anyone could do," Owens said.
Barker and AM were in Columbia, South Carolina Friday night for a T-Mobile sponsored concert at Five Points, a popular shopping district.
