Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker developed a crippling fear of flying after he was involved in a plane crash in September 2008. He’d flown to South Carolina from L.A. to perform with DJ AM, aka Adam Goldstein. But according to Barker, as he was leaving his house, his three-year-old daughter Alabama could not be consoled.
“She’s like, ‘Dad, don’t go!’ She’s bawling, and she doesn’t usually do that,” Barker said during an August 2026 appearance on Jay Shetty’s podcast On Purpose. “She’s like, ‘The roof’s gonna come off, the roof’s gonna come off!’ and I’m like, ‘What is she talking about?’ To the point where I went back in the house and I was like, ‘What’s going on, baby?’”
Even at three years old, Alabama sensed something was wrong, said Barker. Later, when he was preparing for a last-minute flight back to L.A. on a small private plane, he sensed it too.
“I was like, ‘Something feels off.’ I even told my dad, ‘If something happens to me, please make sure the kids are taken care of,’” Barker admitted. “I was saying way too much. All the signs were there.”
He added, “Now older me would just say, ‘I think I’m not gonna get on the plane.’”
Travis Barker Recalls Near-Fatal Plane Crash in Upcoming Documentary
Travis Barker did get on the plane in 2008, however. During takeoff, a tire burst, and the debris damaged the plane’s brake system. This caused the plane to skid off the end of the runway and break through the airport barrier fence. It crossed South Carolina Hwy 302 before crashing into an embankment. Then it caught fire. Barker and Goldstein were the only survivors.
The two pilots were killed, along with Barker’s assistant Chris Baker and his bodyguard Charles Still. It took almost an hour for firefighters to get the flames under control. Both Goldstein and Barker suffered severe burns and had to have skin grafts. Goldstein emerged on fire, but quickly extinguished the flames with stop, drop, and roll.
Barker recalled running and ripping his clothes off in an attempt to extinguish himself at first. Eventually, stop, drop, and roll put out most of the flames. But he was left burned over 65 percent of his body. He recovered in the hospital for 11 weeks, but also developed PTSD from the incident and a debilitating fear of flying. Barker didn’t get on a plane again until 2021.
Photo by Christopher Polk/WWD via Getty Images
The post This Pop-Punk Drummer’s 3-Year-Old Daughter Had a ‘Premonition’ Before His Near-Fatal Plane Crash appeared first on VICE.
