The Official Verdict
The tragedy ultimately claimed one more victim. Holly’s pregnant widow, Maria Elena, only found out about her husband’s death after watching the news. The level of psychological trauma she suffered resulted in a miscarriage. She did not attend the funeral nor has she ever visited his graveside. The musician’s mother screamed and collapsed when she heard the news. Despite the crash, the Winter Dance Party continued for another two weeks.
The Civil Aeronautics Division (CAD) conducted the official investigation and discovered that Peterson had four years of experience as a pilot. While he had logged over 700 hours of flight experience, he was not qualified to fly in the kind of weather where he was forced to rely on instruments alone as he only had 52 hours of instrument flying training. Both Dwyer Flying Service and Peterson were only qualified to fly under visual flight rules which state the pilot must be able to see where he is flying. The CAD concluded that the crash occurred due to Peterson’s “unwise decision to embark on a flight.” However, a fellow pilot believed Peterson got a raw deal and demanded that the case was reopened.
Other Theories
One of the wildest theories was that the pilot’s seat had a bullet hole in it and a gun was recovered with two empty chambers. In 2007, The Big Bopper’s body was exhumed ahead of reburial at Forest Lawn cemetery. The gun rumor suggests that Holly brought his pistol on board and caused an accidental firearm discharge a couple of minutes after the plane took off. Two months after the accident, a farmer claimed to have found Holly’s pistol on his farm near the scene of the crash. However, the exhumation of Richardson found no traces of lead from a bullet.
In March 2015, retired pilot L. J. Coon asked the NTSB to reopen the case because he believed the original investigation was flawed. According to Coon, the crash was possibly caused by a problem with the fuel system or failure of the right rudder. After all, no fuel was found at the scene, and the crash happened just four minutes into the flight. The ex-pilot also suggested that Peterson had attempted to land the plane once he realized there was a problem and that he deserved praise rather than criticism.
Another possible issue, according to Coon, was improper weight distribution on the small craft. Peterson and Holly were seated up front while the heavier Richardson and Valens sat at the back. In November 2015, despite Coon’s protestations, the NTSB announced that it would not re-investigate the case. While the NTSB’s decision means there will be no further investigation, it won’t stop the general public from speculating on the reasons for the crash on the Day the Music Died.