Cause Of Travis Barker's Plane Crash Revealed

The cause of the Sept. 19, 2008 plane crash that killed four and left two, Blink182/+44/Transplants drummer Travis Barker and DJ AM, injured, has finally been determined.

Businessweek reports that the crash was caused by inadequate tire maintenance and the captain’s decision to abort the takeoff at high speed.

Tires on the Bombardier Inc. Learjet 60 hadn’t been checked for three weeks before the airplane overran the runway at a Columbia, South Carolina, airport on Sept. 19, 2008, the National Transportation Safety Board said today. The tires were 36 percent underinflated and failed on the take-off roll.

They also concluded that the decision by Captain Sarah Lemmon, 31, to halt the takeoff after the airplane had reached a speed where there was too little runway left for a safe stop “was inconsistent with her training and standard operating procedures.”