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🗓️ 3 February 2025
⏱️ 21 minutes
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February 3, 1959. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and “The Big Bopper” die in a plane crash on their way from Iowa to Minnesota.
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0:30.8 | Thank you. It's the morning of February 3, 1959, at the Mason City Airport in Iowa. |
0:35.2 | Hubert Dwyer leans over his desk listening to the crackle of the radio. |
0:38.0 | He's the owner of the Dwyer Flying Service and has been trying to reach one of his planes for hours, |
0:40.8 | but there's been no response, |
0:42.4 | and with each passing minute, Hubert's anxiety rises. |
0:46.2 | After one final attempt at the radio, |
0:48.7 | he pushes out his chair and grabs his jacket from a nearby hook. |
0:52.5 | Outside, a freezing wind lashes his face as he |
0:55.7 | hurries across the tarmac to his own plane. All night, heavy snow had battered this tiny |
1:00.9 | airport in the fields around it. But now that it's light out, Hubert is determined to find out |
1:05.8 | what happened to his missing aircraft. The men on board weren't just any passengers. The man who chartered the flight |
1:12.0 | was none other than famous musician Buddy Holly, accompanied by two other stars, teenage |
1:17.4 | singing sensation Richie Valens, and J.P. Richardson, also known as the Big Bopper. Hubert |
1:23.5 | climbs into his plane and starts the engines. The missing aircraft was headed northeast to join up with Buddy's band on the next stop |
1:30.4 | and their tour. |
1:31.6 | Hubert hopes that if he can follow their planned route, he'll find some clues as to what |
1:35.9 | might have happened. |
1:37.5 | As he climbs into the sky, Hubert can't shake the uneasy feeling that's been bothering |
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