Editing The Day the Music Died (section)

==Flight arrangements==
Anderson chartered a plane from Dwyer Flying Service in Mason City, to fly to Fargo's [[Hector International Airport|Hector Airport]], the closest airport to Moorhead;{{sfn|Everitt|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=H4TSH_b7IHYC&pg=PA14 14]}} the pilot was Roger Peterson, a 21-year-old married man who had "built his life around flying".<ref name="CAB1"/>

Dwyer Flying Service charged a fee of $36 ({{Inflation|US|36|1959|r=-1|fmt=eq}}) per passenger for the flight on the 1947 single-engined, V-tailed [[Beechcraft 35 Bonanza]] ([[Aircraft registration#United States|registration]] {{Airreg|N|3794N}}), which seated three passengers and the pilot.{{sfn|Schuck, Raymond|p=16|2012}} A popular misconception, originating from [[Don McLean]]'s [[American Pie (song)|song about the crash]], was that the plane was called ''American Pie'';<!-- In fact,--> no record exists of any name ever having been given to N3794N.<ref>{{cite web |title=American Pie |url=http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/americanpie.asp |website=Snopes.com |date=March 13, 2000 |access-date=April 16, 2015 |archive-date=March 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210322155057/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/american-pie/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The most widely accepted version of events was that Richardson had contracted the flu during the tour and asked Jennings for his seat on the plane.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://beyondthedash.com/blog/remembering/the-day-the-music-died-remembering-the-lives-lost/7394|title= The Day the Music Died: Remembering The Lives Lost|date= 25 January 2021|website= Beyond the Dash|access-date= 15 March 2021|archive-date= February 10, 2024|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240210111420/https://beyondthedash.com/blog/remembering/the-day-the-music-died-remembering-the-lives-lost/7394|url-status= live}}</ref> When Holly learned that Jennings was not going to fly, he said in jest: "Well, I hope your damned bus freezes up." Jennings responded: "Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes", a humorous but ill-fated response that would haunt Jennings for the rest of his life.{{sfn|Jennings|Kaye|1996|p=70}} Valens, who once had a [[fear of flying]], asked Allsup for his seat on the plane. The two agreed to [[coin toss|toss a coin]] to decide.{{sfn|Everitt|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=H4TSH_b7IHYC&pg=PA14 14]}} Bob Hale, a disc jockey with Mason City's [[KRIB|KRIB-AM]], was [[Master of ceremonies|emceeing]] the concert that night and flipped the coin in the ballroom's side-stage room shortly before the musicians departed for the airport. Valens won the coin toss for the seat on the flight. Valens is apocryphally said to have remarked, "That's the first time I've ever won anything in my life."<ref>{{cite news |last=McArdle |first=Terence |date=12 January 2017 |title=Tommy Allsup, guitarist who backed Buddy Holly, Kenny Rogers and others, dies at 85 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/tommy-allsup-guitarist-who-backed-buddy-holly-kenny-rogers-and-others-died-at-85/2017/01/12/6645d724-d8e2-11e6-9a36-1d296534b31e_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=21 March 2024 |archive-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20170113073851/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/tommy-allsup-guitarist-who-backed-buddy-holly-kenny-rogers-and-others-died-at-85/2017/01/12/6645d724-d8e2-11e6-9a36-1d296534b31e_story.html?utm_term=.888e6c675c92 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In contradiction to the testimony of Allsup and Jennings, Dion has since said that Holly approached him along with Valens and Richardson to join the flight, not Holly's bandmates. In a 2009 interview, Dion said that Holly called him, Valens and Richardson into a vacant dressing room during Sardo's performance and said, "I've chartered a plane, we're the guys making the money [we should be the ones flying ahead]...the only problem is there are only two available seats." According to Dion, it was Valens, not Richardson, who had fallen ill, so Valens and Dion flipped a coin for the seat. In his interview, no mention is made of Jennings or Allsup being invited on the plane. Dion said he won the toss, but ultimately decided that since the $36 fare equaled the monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment, he could not justify the indulgence.<ref>{{cite book |last=DiMucci |first=Dion |title=The Wanderer |page=89 |publisher=Beech Tree Books |year=1988}}</ref>