The tour was plagued with problems, mostly stemming from the condition of the bus in which the musicians were traveling. The heater stopped working and on several occasions the bus had mechanical problems, leaving its passengers stranded for hours on remote highways in freezing weather with no heat. One musician had frostbite after one breakdown. The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens were both ill with flu-like symptoms and almost unable to perform upon reaching Clear Lake, Iowa. While in Clear Lake, Buddy Holly arranged for a flight to Fargo, North Dakota, which was the closest airport to their next destination, Moorhead, Minnesota. Originally, the passengers were to have been Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings and Tommy Allsup of the Crickets. The flight originated in Mason City, Iowa.

In Clear Lake on February 2nd, Waylon Jennings volunteered to let the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) take his seat on the plane. At this time, the Big Bopper was obviously quite ill. Ritchie Valens expressed an interest in flying as opposed to riding in the bus any longer. Realizing that the young Valens was ill also, Tommy Allsup of the Crickets (Buddy Holly’s band) engaged Valens in a coin toss for his seat aboard the plane. Valens won the coin toss.

At approximately 5:30 pm on February 2, 1959, twenty-one-year-old pilot Roger Peterson of the Dwyer Flying Service made an inquiry with the Air Traffic Communications Station (ATCS) in Mason City, Iowa, requesting weather information. Weather reports from Mason City, Iowa, Minneapolis, Redwood Falls, Alexandria, Minnesota and Fargo, North Dakota were provided. All these stations reported ceilings of 5,000 feet or better and visibility of 10 miles. However, the Fargo, North Dakota terminal predicted the chance of light snow after 2am the next morning, preceding the passage of a cold front that was expected at about 4 am.

At 10pm and then again at 11:30pm, Peterson called the ATCS, requesting updates on the weather. He was told that the terminals along his planned flight were now reporting ceilings of 4200 feet, but the visibility was still 10 miles or better. Light snow was falling in Minneapolis. The Fargo terminal now expected the cold front to pass at about 2am instead of the previously predicted 4am. The Mason City terminal, where Peterson was located, reported a ceiling of 6,000 feet overcast with visibility of 15 miles or better. The temperature at Mason City was 15 degrees and the wind was out of the south at 25 to 32 knots.

Again, at 11:55, Peterson, accompanied by Hubert Dwyer, a commercial pilot, went to the ATCS requesting the latest weather information. The local weather had changed. The ceiling was now lowered to 5,000 feet and light snow was falling.

At approximately 12:40 am, on February 3, the three passengers arrived. Their baggage was loaded onto the Beechcraft Bonanza, model 35, identification number N3794N. The pilot and passengers then boarded the aircraft. As the pilot taxied the aircraft toward the end of Runway 17, he radioed ATCS again, requesting the latest weather information. He was told that the weather along his intended flight path had not changed significantly. However, the weather at Mason City was deteriorating with a ceiling of only 3,000 feet with precipitation, the sky was obscured with visibility of only 6 miles and the wind out of the south at 20 knots with gusts to 30 knots.

At 12:55 am, Peterson made an uneventful takeoff from Mason City Airport. At an altitude of approximately 800 feet, he made a turn toward the northwest.

Mr, Dwyer stood outside the tower watching the aircraft as it’s tail light began to fade into the darkness. Mr. Dwyer suddenly became aware that the tail light was descending slowly toward the ground. Shortly thereafter, the tail light was no longer visible. Peterson had told Dwyer that he would make a flight plan over the radio after the takeoff. When Peterson did not report his flight plan, Dwyer asked the communicator to try to contact the aircraft. All efforts to reach the pilot failed. It was 1 am, February 3, 1959.

At approximately 9:30 am, the wreckage of the plane was found in a field, about 8 miles from the Mason City Airport. The main part of the aircraft’s wreckage lay against a barbed wire fence at the north end of a field, located about ½ mile from the residence of the Juhl family of Clear Lake, Iowa. Roger Peterson’s body was encased in the tangled wreckage. The three passengers were thrown clear of the aircraft.Seventeen feet south of the wreckage lay the body of Richard Valenzuela (Ritchie Valens). Southwest of the wreckage lay the body of Charles Holley (Buddy Holly) and across a fence, in another field, forty feet away was the body of J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper).

FOLLOWING THE TRAGEDY

On February 5, 1959, J.P. Richardson was interred at the Beaumont City Cemetery in Beaumont, Texas. Army Private Elvis Presley and Colonel Tom Parker sent yellow roses to the funeral home. Two months after his death, Richardson’s son was born.

On February 6, 1959, pilot Roger Peterson was interred in the Buena Vista Memorial Cemetery in Alta, Iowa.

On February 7, 1959, Ritchie Valens was buried in San Fernando Mission Cemetery.

On February 7, 1959, Buddy Holly was buried in Lubbock City Cemetery. His wife, expecting a baby at the time, later had a miscarriage.

In 1988, Buddy Holly fan, Ken Paquette built a stainless steel monument and placed it on the crash site. The owners of the land on which the plane crashed, planted four trees, one for each of the deceased victims. Ironically, all the trees died.

At some point following the crash, a pistol was found at the crash scene. After investigation by authorities, it was discovered to have been the pistol of Buddy Holly. In its chamber were two spent rounds. Almost immediately the conspiracy theorists began rumors that the pilot had been shot and that J.P. Richardson had been shot as he attempted to go for help. That theory was probably fueled by the fact that Richardson’s body lay the greatest distance from the plane.

The rumors haunted the Richardson family to the point that the son, Jay Richardson arranged to have his father’s body exhumed and examined in March, 2007. For the first time in his life, 48 year old J.P. Richardson III met his father, the Big Bopper, face to face.

To learn more about the exhumation of the Big Bopper, click here.