Editing The Day the Music Died (section)

==Take-off and crash==
[[File:Mason City and Clear Lake, Iowa.svg|thumb|Mason City and Clear Lake, Iowa]]
After the show ended, Anderson drove Holly, Valens and Richardson to nearby [[Mason City Municipal Airport]],{{sfn|Everitt|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=H4TSH_b7IHYC&pg=PA15 15]}} where the [[elevation]] is {{convert|1214|ft}} [[Sea level#AMSL|AMSL]]. The weather at the time of departure was reported as light snow, a [[Ceiling (cloud)|ceiling]] of {{convert|3000|ft|-2}} AMSL with sky obscured, visibility {{convert|6|mi|0|spell=in}} and winds from {{convert|20|to|30|mph|kn km/h m/s|abbr=on}}. Although deteriorating weather was reported along the planned route, the weather briefings Peterson received failed to relay the information.{{sfn|Everitt|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=H4TSH_b7IHYC&pg=PA16 16]}}

The plane took off normally from runway 17 (today's runway 18) at 00:55 (12:55 am) [[Central Time Zone|CST]] on Tuesday, February 3.{{sfn|Everitt|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=H4TSH_b7IHYC&pg=PA17 17]}} Hubert Jerry Dwyer, owner of the flying service, watched the southbound take-off from a platform outside the [[control tower]]. He was able to clearly see the aircraft's tail light for most of the brief flight, which started with an initial 180 degree left turn to pass east of the airport, climbing to approximately {{convert|800|ft}} [[Height above ground level|AGL]]. After an additional left turn to a northwesterly heading, the tail light was observed gradually descending until it disappeared. Around 1{{nbsp}}am, when Peterson failed to make the expected radio contact, repeated attempts were made to establish radio contact, without success.<ref name="CAB1">{{cite report |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/Publictn/1959/CAB_2-3-1959.pdf |title=Aircraft Accident Report |last1=Durfee |first1=James R. |last2=Gurney |first2=Chan |last3=Denny |first3=Harmar D. |last4=Minetti |first4=G. Joseph |last5=Hector |first5=Louis J.|publisher=[[Civil Aeronautics Board]] |date=September 23, 1959 |access-date=February 4, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226025843/https://www.ntsb.gov/Publictn/1959/CAB_2-3-1959.pdf |archive-date=February 26, 2009}}</ref> Later that morning at daylight, after several attempts to contact the plane were unsuccessful, Dwyer retraced Peterson's planned route by air, and around 9:35 am he spotted the wreckage less than {{convert|6|mi|0|spell=in}} northwest of the airport.<ref name="CAB1"/>

The Bonanza had impacted terrain at high speed, estimated to have been around {{convert|170|mph|kn km/h|abbr=on}}, banked 90° to the right and in a nose-down attitude. The right-wing tip struck the ground first, gouging a {{convert|12 x 2|ft|m|0|adj=mid|-deep}} furrow, crumpling then breaking off. The fuselage then hit the ground right-side down and bounced a few feet back into the air, traveling another {{convert|50|feet|yd m|0}} through the air, simultaneously rolling inverted due to the remaining left wing still generating lift. The plane struck the ground a final time, in an inverted, nose-down position, the nose hitting and flipping the plane over into a right-side up, tail-first position. The momentum of the heavy engine caused the fuselage, left wing remaining attached and intact to the end, to roll upon itself into a virtual ball, rolling nose-over-tail across the frozen field for {{convert|540|ft|yd m}}, before coming to rest tail-first against a wire fence.<ref name="CAB1"/> The bodies of the performers had been ejected from the fuselage and lay near the plane's wreckage, while Peterson's body, which was entangled in the wreckage, could only be retrieved after the cockpit was cut open using [[blowtorch]]es.<ref name="CAB1"/><ref>(February 4, 1959) [https://access-newspaperarchive-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/us/indiana/anderson/anderson-herald/1959/02-04/page-3/ "3 Rock, Roll Stars Killed in Air Crash"], ''[[Anderson Herald]]''. pg.3. United Press International. Retrieved February 6, 2024.</ref> With the rest of the entourage en route to Minnesota, Anderson, who had driven the party to the airport and witnessed the plane's takeoff, had to identify the bodies of the musicians.{{sfn|Everitt|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=H4TSH_b7IHYC&pg=PA21 21]}} The county [[coroner]], Ralph Smiley, reported that all four victims died instantly, the cause of death being "[[Blunt trauma|gross trauma]] to brain" for the three musicians and "[[brain damage]]" for the pilot.<ref>{{cite web |title=Death certificates |url=https://www.awesomestories.com/media/user/b5885f23f3.pdf |website=Awesome Stories |access-date=June 1, 2015 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055815/https://www.awesomestories.com/media/user/b5885f23f3.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Coroner's investigation |url=https://www.awesomestories.com/media/user/f24430da16.pdf |website=Awesome Stories |access-date=June 1, 2015 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051751/https://www.awesomestories.com/media/user/f24430da16.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>