Here's a partial list of all celebrities I know of (mostly American) who have died in plane crashes over the years - please feel free to add to this so that maybe it'll be there in Deja, and we don't have to keep on addressing this... 1931  -         Knute Rockne, Notre Dame football coach, in a TWA         Fokker F-10 Trimotor enroute from Kansas City, MO to         Wichita, KS.  Rot in the wooden wing was believed to         have caused an in-flight breakup. 1935  -         Will Rogers, film star and syndicated columnist, in         Wiley Post's hybrid Lockheed Orion-Explorer, near Point         Barrow, AK.  The aircraft stalled on takeoff from a small         fishing community, it is believed that the floats fitted to         the aircraft were too large for the plane and contributed         too much drag in the freezing conditions. 1942  -         Carole Lombard, film star, in a TWA DC-3 enroute from         Las Vegas, NV to Los Angeles, CA.  While on the last leg         of a War Bond tour, Miss Lombard's plane crashed into         Mt. Potosi shortly after takeoff from Las Vegas.  CAB reports         placed blamed on Captain Wayne Williams for using a flight         plan that was erroneous and in violation of TWA's standard         procedures for the route.  To this day, it is speculated that         Williams was not in the cockpit when the plane was placed on         the fatal heading.  Some clues to this were found in the fact         that he never signed off on the erroneous flight plan created         by his First Officer, and the fact he was well-known for         leaving the cockpit and conversing with passengers just as         soon as the plane was established on climbout. 1958  - Manchester United, in a British European Airways Airspeed         Ambassador, aka Elizabethan.  The aircraft over-ran the runway         at Munich, killing much of the team.  German authorities ruled         that the Captain took off with ice on the wings, _base_d on a         photograph taken of the aircraft's wings a few minutes before         departure.  However, British investigators maintained that         runway contamination in the form of slush prevented the         aircraft from reaching proper rotation speed.  This angle was         later bolstered by the discovery of the original negative of         the photo that the Germans claimed showed ice-covered         wings.  This new print clearly showed the BEA logos on the         wing surface, and indicated that the wing was clear of ice,         which was concurrent to the Captain's testimony.  In 1967,         a British board of investigation absolved the BEA crew of all         responsibility for the disaster and accepted the slush         contamination of the runway as the principal cause of the         crash.  To this day, the Germans stand by their original         finding of pilot error. 1959  - Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and J.P. The Big Bopper         Richardson, in a chartered Beech Bonanza, near Mason City,         IA.  Frustrated by conditions on their tour bus, Holly         chartered the small plane to fly himself, Richardson, and a         band member to their next show at Fargo, ND/Moorehead, MN         According to legend, Holly's band member flipped a coin with         Valens to decide who would fly and who would ride the bus.         Holly's band member, who lost the toss, was his bass p_layer_,         Waylon Jennings - who would go on to be an extremely         successful Country and Western singer.  The official cause of         the accident was ruled to be a stall due to the weather         conditions.  The pilot was not instrument rated, nor was the         Bonanza IFR-equipped. 1968  -         Otis Redding, in a chartered Beech Baron 1973  - Jim Croce, in a chartered aircraft 1977  -         Ronnie Van Zandt and several other members of the         rock band Lynryd Sknyrd, in a chartered Convair 440 near         Muscle Shoals, AL 1985  -         Ricky Nelson, 1950's T.V. and rock star, in a         chartered DC-3 in Texas.  The cause of the crash was         determined to be an in-flight fire.  Initial rumors blamed the         fire on the free-basing of Cocaine, which was never proven.         The NTSB placed blame for the fire on a faulty cabin heater. 1999  - John F. Kennedy, Jr., in his own Piper Saratoga, off the coast         of Martha's Vineyard, MA.  No official determination has yet         been made, but most signs point to a loss of control due to         spatial disorientation.