plane crash story

[HeldtheHand]

From Wikipedia:

In 1990, Johnston played at a music festival in Austin, Texas. On the way back to West Virginia on a small, private plane piloted by his father, Johnston became hypomanic and wrestled control of the plane away from his father removing the key from the ignition and throwing it out of the plane. His father, a World War Two fighter pilot, managed to successfully crash-land the plane in a wooded area. Although the plane was destroyed, Johnston and his father emerged unharmed. As a result of this episode, Johnston was involuntarily committed to a mental hospital.

is this little story true? i havent watched 'the devil and daniel johnston', so i don't know if the dvd covers it, but is this actual event a myth or fact. it doesnt seem very realistic that he 'threw the keys outside of the plane'.

[Henry Long]

It IS an amazing story, and it is completely true.

Get the film and watch it...they did a really good job
sorting fact from fabrication, for the most part.

Also, the scene of Daniel's father breaking down and crying real tears while relating the above mentioned crashed plane story was from the first day of filming! Whew...

[HeldtheHand]

thankyou sir.
i will be getting the dvd rather shortly.
in the mean time, can you explain, or did the dvd explain, how the keys got out of the plane?

[Henry Long]

Just like it says in Wikipedia:

Daniel (in the throws of a manic episode, mind you)
pulled them out of the ignition while the plane was flying,
struggled with Bill, his father, and threw them out the window.
(A window which could be opened manually. This was a small
single engine private plane.)
His father attempted to control it, even though the
power had been cut, and...

...well, you'll have to watch the DVD!
(But I guess you can tell this story ultimately has a happy ending)

From www.rejected/unknown.com:
"Both Daniel and his father were black and blue on the entire front of their bodies, but no broken bones.  Daniel spent the rest of that year in a mental hospital in Little Rock."

[ondafritz]

Completely true.

[notdaniel]

Completely true.

Those of us who were still reeling from how well the show went were hit by a ton of bricks by the revelation of the crash.

 - notdan

[ondafritz]

I can dig that. Imagine hearing the story from the guy who did the key throwing.

[madnell]

I can dig that. Imagine hearing the story from the guy who did the key throwing.

yes, fritz, would you mind sharing some of that with us?

[ondafritz]

I'm gonna check with the family, but I do seem to recall that the infamous plane crash is not the first one Daniel and his father walked away from. And I do believe the first one was due to true engine failure.

[Nomtoc]

I grew up flying these same planes with my grandfather and engine failure is nothing, you'll just glide like a graceful bird and land relatively normal; given enough room of course. The tailspin story DJ's pop tells is an entirely different monster all together. Luckily he was able to lift the nose before landfall.

[ondafritz]

I grew up flying these same planes with my grandfather and engine failure is nothing, you'll just glide like a graceful bird and land relatively normal; given enough room of course. The tailspin story DJ's pop tells is an entirely different monster all together. Luckily he was able to lift the nose before landfall.

But there was that thing about a bumpy cornfield.

[Nomtoc]

I grew up flying these same planes with my grandfather and engine failure is nothing, you'll just glide like a graceful bird and land relatively normal; given enough room of course. The tailspin story DJ's pop tells is an entirely different monster all together. Luckily he was able to lift the nose before landfall.

But there was that thing about a bumpy cornfield.

Still a relatively good landing all things considered. My question that I've never had the salt to ask has always been: So were there any freshly roasted corn cobs to eat. That's about the only why I like to eat corn, roasted but preferable on a grill and not a single plane engine. 

[billybob]

that story is completely true, in fact daniel himself related it to me, a bit ruefully, more than 10 years ago.  his dad is relatively modest when he tells the story in the documentary,  from what daniel told me.   of course he might have been enhancing the story a bit, but he said his dad had to guide the plane between two trees and the wings were sheared off.  his dad was knocked unconscious  but daniel wasn't.   i can't remember bill's exact telling of it in the doc, i have it conflated with daniel's version and gibby haynes' version, who was the first person to tell me about it.  it was almost immediately after his triumphant return to Austin to play at the music awards during SXSW...

[Chappuh]

Just like it says in Wikipedia:

Daniel (in the throws of a manic episode, mind you)
pulled them out of the ignition while the plane was flying,
struggled with Bill, his father, and threw them out the window.
(A window which could be opened manually. This was a small
single engine private plane.)
His father attempted to control it, even though the
power had been cut, and...

...well, you'll have to watch the DVD!
(But I guess you can tell this story ultimately has a happy ending)

From www.rejected/unknown.com:
"Both Daniel and his father were black and blue on the entire front of their bodies, but no broken bones.  Daniel spent the rest of that year in a mental hospital in Little Rock."

Little Rock, Arkansas?!!

[Rob Wheeler]

Mr Johnston must be a really great pilot. To make it through active combat, and maintain the skills through to his senior years to the level where he could ditch a plane successfully in such a calamitous situation is amazing.