1957 Pacoima mid-air collision: Difference between revisions

Valens was not at school that day because he was attending the funeral of his grandfather.<ref> {{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jan-28-me-then28-story.html?_amp=true |author=Cecilia Rasmussen |title=The day fiery disaster fell from the sky |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=January 28, 2007 |access-date=May 15, 2021}}</ref><ref> {{cite web |url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/02/19/childhood-pal-recalls-ritchie-valens-as-sweet-tough-from-murrieta-home/ |author=Allen, David |title=Childhood pal recalls Ritchie Valens as 'sweet,' 'tough' from California home |date=February 19, 2021 |access-date=May 15, 2021}}</ref> Recurring nightmares of the disaster led to Valens' [[fear of flying]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-12-29-me-1334-story.html |author=Kahler, Karl |title=On Pacoima Playground With Ritchie Valens : Grief Moves Him to Save Lives |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |quote=One student developed an intense fear of flying after the accident--Ricardo Valenzuela, who later adopted the name Ritchie Valens. |date=Dec 29, 1988 |access-date=May 15, 2021}}</ref> which he overcame after he launched his music career. Unfortunately, Valens was killed in a plane crash along with fellow rock 'n' rollers [[Buddy Holly]] and [[The Big Bopper]] as well as pilot Roger Peterson, perished two years later when their chartered [[Beechcraft Bonanza]] crashed near [[Mason City, Iowa]], in the early morning hours of [[The Day the Music Died|February 3, 1959]].{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} However, in the nightmare sequences of the film, the first collision was portrayed by two [[general aviation]] aircraft (one of which was the Beechcraft Bonanza in which Valens actually died), as opposed to the aircraft in the actual disaster.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}