Kourtney Kardashian’s husband Travis Barker to launch documentary about surviving ‘life-changing’ airplane crash that killed 4
He survived a horrific airplane crash in 2008 that claimed the lives of four people and prevented him from flying for years.
Now Travis Barker will be bringing his survival story onto the small screen.
Barker, 50, has announced Louder Than Fear, a documentary set to debut this summer on Hulu about the aftermath of the ‘life-changing’ ordeal.
‘I’m really stoked to announce my new documentary, Louder Than Fear. It’s coming out this summer on Hulu,’ he announced at Hulu’s Get Real event, according to Us Weekly.
‘It’s an unfiltered look at my journey after a life-changing experience and also spotlights the amazing people I have in my life who carried me through it. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to document it and be able to share it with all of you.’
‘This documentary started over 10 years ago and it’s been a wild, wild ride, and I can’t wait to share it with the world.’
Travis Barker has announced the new documentary, Louder Than Fear, a project set to reflect on surviving a horrific 2008 airplane crash
Barker was on a plane in South Carolina with his assistant, bodyguard and friend Adam ‘DJ AM’ Goldstein when a tire blew during takeoff; seen in 2008
The plane crash happened on September 19, 2008 – Barker boarded a private jet in South Carolina to head back to Los Angeles following a show, while accompanied by his friend Adam ‘DJ AM’ Goldstein, his security guard Charles ‘Che’ Still, and his assistant Chris Baker.
As the small plane was attempting to take off, one of its tires suffered a blow out, causing the craft to overshoot the runway, burst through the airport’s fence and over the nearby highway, and finally crash into the embankment on the side of the road.
The pilot, Sarah Lemmon, and the co-pilot, James Bland, were killed within minutes from smoke inhalation and burns as the plane erupted into flames on impact, according to the Chicago Tribune. Still and Baker were also killed on impact.
Barker and Goldstein were able to escape from the burning plane via an emergency exit over the wing, but both were engulfed in flames as they slid down the wing and got covered in burning jet fuel.
The drummer had third-degree burns over 65 percent of his body and had to spend three months in the hospital while having skin grafts and 26 surgeries to repair the damage.
A year after the accident fellow survivor Goldstein died of a prescription drug overdose.
In a May 2021 interview with Men’s Health, Barker shared that the crash helped motivate him to stop abusing prescription drugs.
‘People are always like, ‘Did you go to rehab?” he recounted. ‘And I [say], ‘No, I was in a plane crash.’ That was my rehab. Lose three of your friends and almost die? That was my wake-up call. If I wasn’t in a crash, I would have probably never quit.’
The crash left Barker with a debilitating fear of flying that he eventually overcame with the help of Kourtney
After the crash, Travis was overcome with a debilitating fear even at the sight of an airplane.
‘I was dark… I couldn’t walk down the street. If I saw a plane [in the sky], I was determined it was going to crash, and I just didn’t want to see it,’ he said, adding that he was ‘haunted’ by the experience of ‘being burned’ and ‘trying to grab my friends from a burning plane.’
But he also struck a more hopeful tone due to the passage of time.
‘Now it’s been so many years, it’s getting easier for me. There are days where I’ll wake up and never think about it,’ he said.
The crash left Barker with third-degree burns over 65 percent of his body
Barker announced his new documentary at Hulu’s Get Real event on Sunday
It would take another 18 years for Barker to finally travel on a plane after the crash.
In August 2021, he overcame his fear of flying when he jetted to Cabo San Lucas with his wife Kourtney Kardashian.
‘I think the power of love really helped me. Kourt made it so I fly, my kids fly now. She healed us,’ he told the LA Times in 2023.
‘It takes a little piece of my life every time I fly. The amount of stress and anxiety it causes is just unbearable. It brings up all this old trauma, and sometimes I’m like, ‘Is this worth it?’ But I don’t like anything having a hold on me, either — I don’t like being afraid, and I don’t like having things from my past control my future.’
