Editing Ricky Nelson (section)

==Death==
{{Main|Death of Ricky Nelson}}
On December 31, 1985, Nelson died when the [[Douglas DC-3]] on which he was a passenger was stricken with a cabin fire and forced to make a crash landing in a field. The aircraft had been traveling between [[Guntersville, Alabama]], and [[Dallas]], Texas, where Nelson was to perform a [[New Year's Eve]] concert.{{sfn|Bashe|1992|pp=261–262}} The aircraft, which Nelson owned, had suffered mechanical failures on previous flights.{{sfn|Bashe|1992|p=259}} The fire was determined to have been caused by a defective heater in the tail of the plane. While both pilots survived by escaping through the cockpit windows before the plane was consumed by flames, all seven passengers died because they were unable to escape the smoke-filled passenger cabin.<ref name="NTSB" />