Barker Opens Up About Jet Tragedy

3 months ago 07th Aug 03:35

Blink-182 star Travis Barker has opened up about the 2008 plane crash which almost cost him his life.

The drummer and bandmate Adam 'DJ AM' Goldstein escaped from the flameswhile two pals and two pilots perished in the tragedy when the Lear jet they were all aboard failed to clear a runway in South Carolina in September (08).

Talking about the accident in depth for the first time, Barker, who wasbadly burned in the tragedy, admits he'll never be able to forget the night he almost lost his life - and lost two friends.

He tells Rolling Stone magazine, "I opened a door and my hand caught fire. I ran to get out of the plane, but I fell through a wing. I immediately soaked up with jet fuel and caught fire. "(I was) running like hell.

I opened a door and my hand caught fireTravis Barker

Running for my family I didn't care about anything except being with my dad, sister, (ex-wife) Shanna (Moakler), mythree kids.

"I'm completely naked, holding my genitals - everything else is on fire- and I'm running, trying to put myself out".

Barker eventually heard bystanders and safety crews yelling, "Stop, drop and roll!" and he took their advice.

Goldstein then ran over and helpedextinguish the flames on his feet.

The drummer adds, "I was lying next to AM as the plane was exploding, and I was screaming, 'Are we alive?'" Barker underwent 16 surgeries, skin grafts and blood transfusions, and,at one point, feared he'd lose his foot.

He adds, "They were talking about amputating my foot because I didn't have enough skin on my body for my grafts".

But much of the rocker's skin art survived the inferno, although transplanted skin from his back now covers parts of what was a tattooed right leg.