Travis Barker, DJ AM suffer 'extensive burns' after plane crash
A Learjet has crashed in South Carolina, killing four people and critically injuring former Blink 182 band member Travis Barker as well as DJ AM.
The plane was carrying six people and was leaving shortly before midnight on Friday when air traffic controllers reported seeing sparks, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen on Saturday.
She says the plane went off the runway and crashed on a nearby road. Bergen says two crew members and two passengers died in the crash.
The Lexington County Deputy Coroner had identified the dead: pilot Sarah Lemmon, 31, of Anaheim, Calif.; her copilot, James Bland, 52, of Carlsbad, Calif.; Barker's assistant, Chris Baker, 29, of Studio City, Calif., and Barker's security guard, Charles Still, 25, of Los Angeles.
Beth Frits, spokeswoman at the Joseph Still Burn Center in Augusta, Ga., said Barker and DJ AM, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, arrived at the hospital early Saturday, with "extensive burns."
William Owens told WIS-TV he was driving down the highway when he saw a fireball.
"I didn't know what I had seen ... but as I approached it closer though, I made out a fire. By then I was able to see the tail of the jet and I recognized it as a jet," Owens said.
Owens said he saw two men were running around and pulling off clothing to put out the flames.
Barker is an ex-drummer with Blink 182 who also starred in the MTV reality show Meet the Barkers.
Barker and Goldstein, who perform together as TRVSDJ-AM, had played at a free outdoor concert on Friday night in the student area of Columbia, S.C.
They had performed alongside Perry Farrell, the former lead singer of Jane's Addiction, as well as singer/songwriter Gavin DeGraw. Representatives for Farrell and DeGraw say their clients were not on the plane.
"It's absolutely terrible and tragic," Columbia Mayor Bob Coble said.
The jet was headed to Van Nuys, Calif.
With files from the Associated Press
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