Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker has settled a lawsuit over the deadly 2008 plane crash in South Carolina that killed four people and caused severe injuries to him and late friend DJ AM.
The multiple defendants in the case – Clay Lacy Aviation, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Global Exec Aviation, Bombardier Inc. and others – reached an undisclosed agreement with Barker during a mediation session in November, and the confidential settlement papers were filed on December 3, according to TMZ.
The same mediation session also brought to settlement a lawsuit filed by the mother of Barker’s bodyguard, Charles “Che” Still, who died in the crash.
Months after the crash, Barker explained that he filed the suit because he believed pilot error and defective equipment caused the accident, from which he and AM escaped, sustaining serious second- and third-degree burns.
“I wouldn’t have third-degree burns all over my body or be prohibited to do certain things. I can’t go swimming; I can’t do some of the things that normal people can do,” he said. “I didn’t ask for that to happen.”
Though he was optimistic about prevailing in the suit, Barker said winning monetary damages wouldn’t heal the loss he felt after the fiery crash.
“If something goes wrong that’s not supposed to go wrong or you fall victim of it, I think you should be compensated,” he explained.
“I lost two friends,” he added , referring to his assistant, Chris Baker, and Still. “Nothing can bring them back or what I lost in the accident.”
Baker’s widow has also filed suit against the same companies over the crash, though it was unknown at press time if she was involved in the same settlement talks.
A similar case filed by the estate of DJ AM (born Adam Goldstein) – who died of an accidental drug overdose in August – is still pending. Last month, AM’s mother amended her son’s $20 million lawsuit against the manufacturer of the Learjet that crashed on takeoff in September 2008, adding a wrongful death claim that will presumably argue that the injuries he sustained in the crash left the former drug addict in so much pain that he sought relief through various drugs to ease the pain and anxiety he felt in its aftermath. Also killed in the crash were the plane’s pilot and co-pilot.
