On This Day In Metal: March 19th 1982 Randy Rhoads Died

Another year passes and for us that remember this tragic day we will never forget the amazing Randy Rhoads.

What was suppose to be a joyride turned out to be a nightmare as the plane crashed killing Rhoads and Rachel Youngblood, a 58-year-old seamstress and cook for the Osbourne band; and Andrew Aycock, a 36-year-old bus driver with an expired pilot’s license.

Aycock had, according to a report from the National Transportation Safety Board, commandeered the 1955 single-engine aircraft from the nearby Flying Baron Estates after deciding to stay the night at plane owner Jerry Calhoun’s home – a Georgian-style mansion adjacent to the airstrip. Aycock, who lived nearby, was reportedly friends with Calhoun, a country singer. Osbourne, his manager and future wife Sharon, bassist Rudy Sarzo, drummer Tommy Aldridge and keyboardist Don Airey were asleep in an adjacent tour bus.

The plane made as many as three passes over the home, apparently in a joy-riding attempt to buzz over the other band members. On the final pass, Aycock clipped the tour bus, spun out of control, hit a nearby pine tree and then nose dived into the house. 

“I was awoken from my sleep by a loud explosion,” Osbourne later said in a sworn statement. “I immediately thought that we’d hit a vehicle on the road. I got out of bed, screaming to my fiancee Sharon: ‘Get off the bus!’ After getting out of the bus, I saw that a plane had crashed. I didn’t know who was on the plane at the time.”