By now you have probably seen the video showing the horrific plane crash that claimed the lives of former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker’s assistant, his bodyguard and the pilot and co-pilot on board the Learjet that exploded into a fireball in South Carolina late Friday night.
Investigators announced yesterday that the pilot and co-pilot died from smoke inhalation and burns while Barker’s assistant, 29-year-old Chris Baker and bodyguard 25-year-old Charles Still were killed on impact when the plane they were in with the musician turned reality TV star and celebrity disc jockey DJ AM went skidding off a runway and burst into flames before hitting an embankment.
According to doctors at the Georgia burn hospital where Barker and DJ AM (real name: Adam Goldstein) are being treated, it is “nothing short of a miracle” that the two men are alive today. Both suffered second- and third-degree burns—-Barker from his waist down and Goldstein to his scalp and upper body—-but are expected to fully recover.
After seeing the raging inferno on TV it’s hard not to marvel at the fact that Barker and Goldstein were able to escape. Which brings me to this interesting note on human nature and the curious state of human relationships.
Shortly after news broke of the plane crash several media organizations reported that Barker’s ex-wife Shanna Moakler (with whom he starred in the MTV reality show “Meet the Barkers”—-a series chronicling their rocky 3-year marriage) left the couple’s young children with her mom and rushed to Barker’s side with the hopes of “lifting his spirits.” Likewise, singer/actress Mandy Moore also jetted from Los Angeles to Georgia to be with her ex-boyfriend, Goldstein. (The two dated for just two months shortly after Goldstein split from fiancee Nicole Richie, but are reportedly still “great friends.”)
While I think it is very admirable of Moakler to rush to her ex-husband’s bedside I also can’t help but think back to just a few months ago when the two were using the media to publicly slander each other. She accused him of abandoning her and their two children (4-year-old Landon and 2-year-old Alabama) while he spoke freely of her “immaturity” and “insecurity” even going so far as calling Moakler an “unfit mother.”
What a difference a single plane crash can make.
Granted the two were able to hammer out a custody agreement during their divorce proceedings and it appeared (at least publicly) that they had put their personal differences aside to co-parent their children. But, still I wonder how you can go from seething anger and piercing insults to jetting cross-country to nurse and console. Perhaps forgiveness in the wake of tragedy is more powerful than I give it credit for.