February 3, 1959 Beechcraft Model 35 Bonanza Mason City, IA (WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES)
The Beechcraft Bonanza is an American general aviation aircraft introduced in 1947 by The Beech Aircraft Corporation. As of 2008 it is still being produced in derivative form by Hawker Beechcraft. More than 17,000 Bonanzas of all variants have been built.
Although sparse by today's current production aircraft, the instrument panel of N3794N, a 1947 Model 35 Beechcraft Bonanza was equipped to fly in low visibility (IFR) conditions.
The pilot, however was far from capable or experienced to fly on instruments or at night.
"The Winter Dance Party" was a tour that was set to cover 24 Midwestern cities in three weeks. A logistical problem with the tour was the amount of travel, as the distance between venues was not a priority when scheduling each performance. For example, the tour would start at venue A, travel 200 miles to venue B, and travel back 170 miles to venue C, which was only 30 miles from venue A. Adding to the disarray, the tour bus used to carry the musicians was ill-prepared for the weather; its heating system broke shortly after the tour began.
The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa was never intended to be a stop on the tour, but promoters, hoping to fill an open date, called the manager of the ballroom at the time and offered him the show. He accepted and the date of the show was set for February 2.
By the time Buddy Holly arrived at the ballroom that evening, he was frustrated with the tour bus and told his bandmates that, once the show was over, they should try to charter a plane to get to the next stop on the tour (an armory in Moorhead, Minnesota). The destination of the flight was Hector Airport in Fargo, North Dakota (directly across the Red River from Moorhead), as Moorhead did not have an airport.
At 12:55am on February 3, the plane took off from Mason City Municipal Airport. Around 1:05, Jerry Dwyer, owner of Dwyer Flying Service (and the owner of the plane), could see the lights of the plane start to descend from the sky to the ground. At the time, he thought it was an optical illusion because of the curvature of the earth and the horizon.
Peterson, was expected to file his flight plan once the plane was airborne, but he never called the tower. Repeated attempts by Dwyer to contact his pilot failed. By 3:30am, when the airport at Fargo had not heard from Peterson, Dwyer contacted authorities and reported the aircraft missing.
Jerry Dwyer discovered the wreckage at 5:30 am. Newsmen and others gathered at the crash site, about 5 miles northwest of Clear Lake, but all were barred until acting coroner Dr. Ralph Smiley arrived at 11:30. The three passengers had been thrown from the plane. Snow, which fell lightly after the crash, had drifted slightly about the bodies and wreckage. Some parts of each body had been frozen by ten hours' exposure in temperature reported to have been near 18 degrees.
The Bonanza was at a slight downward angle and banked to the right when it struck the ground at around 170 mph. The plane tumbled and skidded another 570 ft across the frozen landscape before the crumpled ball of wreckage piled against a wire fence at the edge of the property.
J.P. Richardson had developed a case of the flu during the tour and asked one of Holly's bandmates, Waylon Jennings, for his seat on the plane; Jennings agreed to give up the seat. When Holly learned that Jennings wasn't going to fly, he said, "Well, I hope your ol' bus freezes up." Jennings responded, "Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes." This exchange of words, though made in jest at the time, haunted Jennings for many years afterward.
One of the aircraft's flight instruments (Gyro Compass Indicator) thrown from the plane during impact.
Authorities confer at the crash site.
This furrow was cut into the corn field as the plane began to cartwheel and disintegrate. All on board were most likey killed on impact.
Two bodies were located near the main wreckage and can be seen in this photo. The one on the left is that of Buddy Holly and the one on the right is Ritchie Valens.
The body of J.P. Richardson was thrown past the barb wire fence and nearly 100 feet beyond the main wreckage.
The body of pilot Roger Peterson was still in the main aircraft wreckage when authorities arrived and had to be cut from the debris.
Here we see mixture of police, news reporters, and who knows who else wandering around the crash site. The local police obviously failed to secure the site. Something you won't see at a plane crash today.
Roger A. Peterson age 21, Peterson was born and raised in Alta, Iowa, the eldest of four children born to Arthur and Pearl Peterson. By 1959, he had been flying for over four years, receiving his private pilot's certificate in October 1955 and commercial pilot's certificate in April 1958; a short time later he was hired as a pilot for Dwyer Flying Service in Mason City, Iowa.
In January 1959, Peterson received certification as a limited Flight Instructor, though he was still working on his flight instruments training and was not rated for instrument flying.
Charles Hardin Holley, known professionally as Buddy Holly age 22, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll. The change of spelling of "Holley" to "Holly" came about because of an error in a contract he was asked to sign, listing him as Buddy Holly. That spelling was then adopted for his professional career.
Although his success lasted only a year and a half before his death, Holly is described by critic Bruce Eder as "the single most influential creative force in early rock and roll." His works and innovations were copied by his contemporaries and later musicians, notably The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, and exerted a profound influence on popular music.
This picture of Buddy Holly taken backstage at the Laramar Ballroom in Fort Dodge, Iowa on January 30, 1959 during the Winter Dance Party tour.
Ritchie Valens (Richard Steven Valenzuela) age 17, was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist.
A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens' recording career lasted only eight months. During this time, however, he scored several hits, most notably "La Bamba", which was originally a Mexican folk song that Valens transformed with a rock rhythm and beat that became a hit in 1958, making Valens a pioneer of the Spanish-speaking rock and roll movement.
Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr. age 28, called JP by his friends but commonly known as The Big Bopper, was an American disc jockey, singer, and songwriter whose big voice and exuberant personality made him an early rock and roll star. He is best known for his recording of "Chantilly Lace".
Memorial marker placed at the crash site in 2006.