Stevie Ray had often spoken of wanting to record with his brother. The only musical collaboration between the two stars, the album was released on September 25, 1990. Shortly before the tragic death, Vaughan, and his older brother Jimmie Vaughan, also a star blues guitarist, recorded their “Family Style” album. The company settled with Vaughan family on confidential terms. represented Vaughan’s family against helicopter operator Omniflight. The helicopter was only 100 feet above the ground and well below the hill’s summit when it crashed.įounding partners Tom Davis and Mike Slack, Slack Davis Sanger. The report stated that the pilot’s lack of planning for the flight conditions, the lack of familiarity with the area, and the low visibility at night caused him to become disoriented and fly directly into the side of the ski slope. In its final report on the accident investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the crash was due to pilot error. The flight took place late at night and fog was in the area. The Bell helicopter was not equipped for instrument flight. The post-crash investigation found that the pilot of the helicopter, a highly experienced commercial pilot and flight instructor with more than 5,000 flight hours, including 1,500 hours in the Bell 206B, did not possess a Federal Aviation Administration certificate (equivalent to a license) for instrument flight operations. Vaughan, the other passengers, and the pilot were killed in the crash. Unknown to anyone at the time, the third helicopter had banked immediately after takeoff, then slammed into the side of a 300-foot-high ski slope. To the left is Vaughn’s girl friend Janna Lapidus, to the right of Martha is Vaughn’s brother Jimmie Lee.

Getty Images Martha Vaughn, mother of Stevie Ray Vaughn is center. Stevie Ray Vaughan died at just 35-years-old. Searchers found the wreckage of the missing aircraft on the resort less than a mile from where it took off. Everyone on board Vaughan’s helicopter died instantly, mostly from blunt-force trauma, according to the autopsy report. The following morning the third helicopter, with Vaughan aboard, was missing. Not only was it dark, but there was fog in the area.Ībout 1 a.m., each of the four helicopters took off in succession and ascended into the darkness bound for Chicago.

Vaughan and four other passengers boarded the third of the four helicopters, a Bell 206B Jet Ranger N16933. Vaughan, lead guitarist and frontman for his blues-rock band Double Trouble, was the opening act for rock legend Eric Clapton at an evening show on August 27, 1990, at the Alpine Valley Music Theater, located at a ski resort in East Troy, Wisconsin.įour helicopters had been chartered from Omniflight Helicopters to ferry musicians and their associates after the concert back to Chicago, Illinois. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame described Vaughan as “the second coming of the blues.” One of those was legendary Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, who died at age 35 in a Wisconsin helicopter crash. The history of modern, popular music is intertwined with the stories of star performers whose lives ended far too soon in an airplane or helicopter crash.

Stevie ray vaughan autopsy photos