ThisisBigBrother.com - UK TV Forums - 4 Killed, Travis Barker & DJ AM injured in plane crash

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Columbia (WLTX) - A lear jet while attempting to take off at Columbia Metropolitan Airport, and several people have died. The airport is also currently shut down.

An airport spokesperson says a lear jet--a small, private passenger plane--crashed just after take off a little before midnight Friday. At this time, it appears the plane was attempting to take off, ran off the runway, through a fence, and hit an embankment along Highway 302. The plane then caught fire, and airport emergency crews are working to put out the blaze.

Six people were aboard the airplane. It's believed four people are dead, and two were taken to the hospital.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are expected to arrive in moments.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen told the associated press that air traffic controllers reported seeing sparks on the runway. Bergen says the Lear 60 was headed to Van Nuys, Calif.

While emergency crews deal with the immediate aftermath, there are no departures or arrivals at the airport. Airport officials hope to have the airport up and running again by mid-morning. There are also roadblocks along 302, so drivers in the area should take alternative routes.

WLTX.com will have more on this story as it becomes available.

ETA: MSNBC just said DJ AM was onboard and injured as well.

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9:36 MSNBC has reported 3 males and 1 female deceased.

10:38 Several non-TV updates:

There's a few more updates from articles and what people are seeing on TV:

- Travis taken by ambulence, DJ AM taken by plane to a burn center
- Perry Farrell was NOT on the plane: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/159...__travis.jhtml
- Gavin De Graw wasn't on the plane: http://www.people.com/people/article...227709,00.html
- Witness account via MSNBC: saw gasoline strewn across the road, saw 2 men dumped out of the airplane upon crash, standing in the road on fire, hitting each other trying to put the fire out.
- Reported on MSNBC: The pilot was a woman. and the co-pilot was a man. 2 unidentified men are dead.
- Reported on MSNBC: Pilot names: Pilot - Sarah lemmon
Co-Pilot - James Bland
- TMZ has some pictures, too: http://www.tmz.com/2008/09/20/travis...-crash-photos/

10:52 DECEASED Chris Baker Studio City, CA (confirmed Travis' assistant) Myspace profile.

11:05 MTV: Lexington County Deputy Coroner Brian Setree confirmed for MTV News on Saturday morning that three men and a woman were killed in the crash. Just after 10 a.m. Saturday, Setree identified two of the crash victims: the plane's pilot, Sarah Lemmon, 31, of Anaheim, California, and her co-pilot, James Bland, who was 52 and lived in Carlsbad, California. At 10:40, Setree confirmed that Barker's assistant, Chris "Little Chris" Baker, also died in the crash. He was 29, and lived in Studio City, California.

William Owens was driving down Highway 302 when he said he saw a fireball go across the road.

"I didn't know what I had seen -- it was maybe 800 feet in front of me, 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 then described what he saw as he tried to make it to the wreckage.

"It's in flames and the fuel is running across the road and I had to cross the fuel to get to the two guys that seemed to have been dumped on the highway," Owens said.

Owens said the two men were running around and stripping down to extinguish themselves. He then asked the men if there was anyone else on board the plane and they said four more were with them.

"We turned to the jet to try and see if there was anything we could do, but immediately, there was nothing anyone could do," Owens said.

11:47 Charles Still, 25, of Riverside, CA perished in the crash. (Travis' bodyguard.)

CONFIRMED
The deceased (RIP):
Pilot - Sarah Lemmon
Co-pilot - James Bland
Passenger - Chris Baker, Studio City, CA (Travis' assistant)
Passenger - Charles Still, of Riverside, CA (Travis' bodyguard)

12:06 TMZ reports: Barker was burned from the waist down and DJ AM has burns to his face and is being "tended to" at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctor's Hospital in Augusta, GA. They are still isted as being in critical condition.

Travis Barker's former mother-in-law, Gail Moakler, tells PEOPLE, "We're totally crushed," but that Shanna Moakler has rushed to be with her ex, while DJ Am's sister, Lara, and her husband, Benjamin Long, learned the news of the plane crash – in which Barker and DJ AM were badly burned and four others were killed – from a phone call from Am's mother on Saturday morning.

"We're in shock," Benjamin Long told PEOPLE. "Nobody expects something like this. We're waiting to hear more."

Moakler, whose daughter Shanna was married to Barker, tells PEOPLE, "Our heart pours out. We're hoping he recovers. The family is rallying around him and saying our prayers."

Both Barker, 32, and DJ AM (real name: Adam Michael Goldstein), 35, were taken to a burn center in Augusta, Georgia, about 75 miles southwest of the Columbia, S.C., crash site. Both are listed in critical condition.

Four others on the plane were killed: pilot Sarah Lemmon, 31, of Anaheim Hills, Calif.; co-pilot James Bland, 52, of Carlsbad, Calif.; security guard Charles Still, 25, of Los Angeles; and Barker's assistant Chris Baker, 26, also of Los Angeles.

Children Not Told
Upon hearing the news of the crash, "Shanna flew out this morning, and I am going to L.A. to be with the children so that she can devote time to Travis," Gail Moakler tells PEOPLE.

Former Playboy Playmate Shanna Moakler, 33, was married to Barker from 2004 until earlier this year. They have two children: son Landon, 4, and daughter Alabama, 2.

"There's still love between them," says Gail Moakler. "They may be divorced, but they're still very close. She spends a lot of time with him. Their priorities are their kids."

The youngsters have yet to be told about the incident. "We're waiting a bit to see what God brings," says their grandmother, who adds, "Shanna spoke to Travis last night. He was defiant after the accident and didn't want to be lifted in a helicopter, but rather an ambulance, so they had to knock him out."

DJ AM is a Survivor
"The whole thing is crazy," said Benjamin Long. "We're thankful that he made it. And we feel horrible about those who didn't. It's just awful."

He added that his bother-in-law is a survivor. "He flies all the time," says Long. "A lot of people know his story. He's pulled through a lot of things in the past."

The Learjet carrying six people that crashed after midnight Friday was just over one year old and chartered from Global Executive Aviation in Long Beach, Calif., according to Columbia Metropolitan Airport spokesperson Lynne Douglas,

"The crash was the result of an overrun on its flight to Van Nuys [Calif.]," says Douglas, who attended a National Transportation Safety Board press conference Saturday afternoon in Columbia. "The NTSB is gathering information and fact finding to learn what happened in this tragedy."

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