Originally Posted by
Gary
Okay, I came up with this theory a couple of years ago after I heard this. A few years back, Jerry Dwyer (owner of the plane, and YES he still has it!) allowed crash victim family members to view the wreckage. Apparently things didn't go well after the Valens family got a chance to view and talk with Mr. Dwyer, this according to Jerry himself. He would not say what was said but did say that the Valens family was VERY upset by things he said and by his theory as to what happened on the plane. If I remember right, the Valens family sued Mr. Dwyer after the crash and I don't believe they won.
Here is my theory........Ritchie did not like flying. He did fly before this but in a larger plane, but he really did not like flying. So what happens when you put somebody, that doesn't like flying, on a SMALL plane? He probably thought nothing of it at the time since his friend Buddy was the one chartering the plane, so when he found out about it, he wanted in! So he bugged Tommy Allsup all night that night. Tommy kept saying NO. When they were leaving the Surf, after the concert, Tommy was asked by Buddy to go back in and check to make sure they got everything, so he went in by the stage door and there was Ritchie asking Tommy ONE MORE TIME if he could fly....finally, just to put an end to it, Tommy said FINE, I'll flip you for it and pulled out a 50 cent piece. Ritchie called heads. They went back outside to the car and Tommy told Ritchie that if it's okay with Buddy to go ahead....and Buddy said it was fine (and laughed at Tommy). Tommy gave Buddy his wallet and I.D. to pick up a letter in Moorhead and away they went.
Well, like I said.....when somebody who isn't really used to flying in a small plane gets in and the plane takes off and does things that a larger plane doesn't do, you panic a little (or in this case, I think it was a LOT). Ritchie was sitting behind Buddy...as the plane was accelerating and taking off (they actually took off to the S.E. and looped around to head N.W.), my theory is that Ritchie immediately had a panic attack and wanted to get off. It was at this time that Buddy turned around to Ritchie and tried calming him down and while doing that, I believe that Buddy either hit a switch of some sort (without knowledge by the pilot) or possibly Buddy's large coat got caught on the steering controls and while they were trying to get him un-tangled, the plane was descending instead of ascending and by the time the pilot realized this, he over-corrected the situation and the plane hit the ground going a couple of hundred miles per hour. You must remember, they weren't up there very long. A pilot knows that when you pull back on the controls the plane goes up....push in and the plane goes down. The plane was going down almost immediately after making the turn to head in the N.W. direction. Why? There had to have been some kind of disturbance. There was NOT a snowstorm but there were good, strong winds on the ground. The sky was actually clear that night but snow was blowing across the roads and runway but that was from fresh snow that fell earlier. So my thinking is that there was something going on inside the plane. I think Ritchie had a massive panic-attack and I believe that's POSSIBLY what Mr. Dwyer came up with as well and when he told the Valens family this, they became upset not believing that it could have been him that may have caused the crash. In everybody's mind, it was pilot error.....PERIOD. Well, I don't believe it was Roger Peterson's fault at all. I believe something happened on the plane and he tried to get the plane back UP as soon as he realized they were going down but it was just too late. Maybe he was trying to get back to the airport after all, to let Ritchie get off, after all the RIGHT wing tip hit the ground, so was he trying to turn back but they were just too low to the ground? Think about it.......try to imagine these scenarios and let me know what you think. Am I crazy? Am I on the right track? PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS.
Again, I have NEVER heard Mr. Dwyer's theory to the crash. He is writing a book that he hopes to have out within a year, so we will find out then what his thoughts are, but after hearing SO MANY stories thru the years, this is what I came up with. I brought it up with a couple of other Holly fans before and they think I may be on to something.
Another question I've always had was this.......why was the Big Bopper naked when he was found (except for underwear and socks)? Everybody else was fully clothed, why was he the only one that had his clothes "ripped" off? He was quite sick that night and I'm sure it was hot and stuffy on the plane and he was a rather large guy....was he taking his jacket and shirt off to cool off while this was going on with Buddy and Ritchie? Was he taking his stuff off FOR Ritchie to wear? All of these things go through my mind.........TELL ME I'M CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!