A night flight in a light aircraft ended abruptly a few minutes after take-off and 5 miles from the airport according to the accident report.

Today is the 50th anniversary of the deaths of Charles Hardin, J.P. Richardson and Richard Valenzuela (aka Buddy Holly, “The Big Bopper”, and Ritchie Valens) and marks the “day the music died“.

Reading the accident report, it appears that, in the end, the pilots over-eagerness to make the flight overruled common sense. Seems like there might be a lesson in there somewhere for lawyers and the decision to take/not take a client.