10 Scariest Plane Stories by Celebrities: From Jelly Roll to Travis Barker
Christian Oliver
On January 4, Speed Racer actor Christian Oliver and his two daughters — Madita and Annik — with his estranged wife Jessica Mazur died in a plane crash.
The Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force issued a statement confirming the plane they boarded with pilot Robert Sachs crashed into the Caribbean Sea moments after taking off from an airport in Bequia in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
According to the authorities, the aircraft had an unspecified trouble that led to the crash.
Christie Brinkley
Two decades ago, Christie Brinkley fortunately survived a near-fatal helicopter crash that also almost killed five other passengers. She told People the incident happened when they went on a heli-skiing tour in the San Juan mountain range.
Brinkley and her group received a notification about avalanches and other information about the activity. However, the helicopter tumbled down after reaching the peak.
"All of a sudden I said, 'Alexa.' I suddenly thought, 'I am her mother, and she needs me. I am not going to die. I refuse. I won't.' With each blow I would call out her name. It was just machinery and me—' Alexa!' Smash! 'Alexa! 'Smash!" she recalled.
Diplo
In a 2019 Instagram post, Diplo opened up about the frightening crash he experienced, which affected his scheduled tours. The plane he boarded had to perform an emergency landing after a window cracked during the flight.
Hulk Hogan
WWE legend Hulk Hogan was on his way to Saudi Arabia for the Crown Jewel event when his plane made an emergency landing in Iceland, causing damage to the aircraft's tires and brakes.
He detailed the experience in a video, noting that "all that crazy stuff happening" led the pilot to make the decision.
"That thing's not going anywhere so over there is a buddy of ours and he's got the same type of plane we were on," Hogan explained, per TMZ. "He's gonna be graceful enough to let us climb on board and continue the journey … we're gonna make it."
Jason Momoa
Jason Momoa also faced an aircraft emergency and made them land at Palm Springs International Airport in 2019,
According to the Palm Springs Professional Firefighters Local 3601 union, an engine fire occurred inside the aircraft.
"Good old fire department," the Aquaman star said of the responders. "Gotta love 'em."
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Jelly Roll
Before the 2024 CMT Music Awards, Jelly Roll and his wife, Bunnie XO, experienced a scary ordeal when their private jet "stopped midair" and needed to make an emergency landing.
"They said it's an issue with the computer," the "Son of a Sinner" singer confirmed.
Jennifer Lawrence
The plane Jennifer Lawrence boarded in 2017 suffered a double engine failure while she was on her way to New York City from Kentucky. The pilots performed an emergency landing in Buffalo to keep everyone safe.
"Airplanes have two engines because occasionally one fails, but two [engines] are not supposed to fail," ABC News aviation expert Colonel Steve Ganyard said, adding, "But anytime you have both engines on a twin engine airplane stop working, it obviously has the potential for disaster."
Keanu Reeves
John Wick star Keanu Reeves boarded a United flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles when the pilot detected a problem with one of the plane's engines. The plane made an emergency landing in Bakersfield.
No one was injured at the time, and Reeves impressed everyone when he helped other stranded supporters.
Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus posted a video on Instagram showing lightning outside the plane she boarded while on her way to Asunción, Paraguay. She added a photo showing the apparent damage the lightning caused to the plane's exterior.
"Our plane was caught in a major unexpected storm and struck by lighting. My crew, band, friends and family who were all traveling with me are safe after an emergency landing," she said, leading to the cancelation of her show. "We were unfortunately unable to fly into Paraguay."
Travis Barker
For years, Travis Barker has bravely spoken about surviving the traumatic and terrifying plane crash in 2008. At the time, they traveled from Columbia, S.C., to Los Angeles alongside his assistant Chris Baker, security guard Charles "Che" Still and Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein.
Before the plane fully took off, they reportedly heard a loud bang that sounded like gunshots.
Air traffic controllers said they saw sparks from the plane after a tire blew out. The two pilots decided to abort the takeoff, but the aircraft still burst into flames.
Barker and Goldstein sustained second-degree burns, while Still and Baker succumbed to the injuries alongside the two pilots.
The Blink-182 drummer almost got his right foot amputated following the ordeal, but his doctors managed to save it. However, he still stayed in the hospital for 11 weeks and underwent 27 surgeries and skin grafts.
"In about 11 of my 30 surgeries in the burns center, I woke up swinging on doctors. I'd be opened up and just go crazy," he said on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast. "I would try get off the table … I don't think I knew what was going on but they just couldn't give me enough medication to knock me out because I'd been self-medicating for so long and abusing meds for so long. I'd just wake up in the middle of anesthesia."
Barker also reportedly suffered from suicidal thoughts and developed post-traumatic stress disorder in the years after the incident.