In the early morning of Monday, August 27, 1990, American musician Stevie Ray Vaughan was killed in a helicopter crash near East Troy, Wisconsin, at age 35.[1] He was one of the most influential blues guitarists of the 1980s, described by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as “the second coming of the blues”.
Vaughan spent his last days performing with his band Double Trouble as the opening act for Eric Clapton at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, thirty miles (50 km) southwest of Milwaukee. After the concert concluded, Vaughan and three members of Clapton’s entourage boarded a helicopter that crashed into the side of a nearby ski hill shortly after takeoff. The Civil Air Patrol was notified of the crash at 4:30 am CDT, and authorities were called to locate the scene of the accident. All five people were pronounced dead on arrival. The autopsy concluded that Vaughan suffered multiple internal injuries and died of exsanguination (bleeding to death) due to blunt trauma of the chest and abdomen.
At the inquest, the coroner found no evidence of drug or alcohol use and recorded death by misadventure. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that the pilot failed to gain sufficient altitude to avoid rising terrain.[2]
Vaughan was buried at Laurel Land Cemetery in Dallas, Texas, on August 31, 1990.[3] In 1992, his family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Omniflight Helicopters, which was settled for an undisclosed amount in 1995.
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