Great news to report today after the awful news yesterday … Doctors expect that both Travis Barker and Adam DJ AM Goldstein, who were the sole survivors of a tragic plane crash yesterday, will recover fully from their injuries. I cannot tell you how amazingly good this news is! Here is a pic of Travis and AM on stage performing a live concert in Columbia, SC just a few hours before their fateful crash on Friday night:

There is promising long-range news in the medical condition of air-tragedy victims Travis Barker and DJ AM. The medical director of the Georgia burn center where the two are being treated after their escape from a fiery plane crash around midnight Friday said Sunday morning that both critically injured men are expected to make full recoveries. Dr. Fred Mullins of the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors’ Hospital in Augusta said at a press conference that former Blink 182 drummer Barker, 32, and DJ Am (real name: Adam Goldstein), 35, are being treated for second- and third-degree burns. Mullins says recovery from such burns can take as long as a year but says that the men suffered no other injuries, adding: “Since both Barker and Goldstein are in overall good health and didn’t suffer from any other crash-related complications, a full recovery is expected.” As for a timeline, though he said recovery could require a year, Mullins also noted, “I would expect it would be much sooner than that.” Mullins says Barker was burned on his torso and lower body, while DJ AM, was burned on his arms and a portion of his head. The doctor described both as remaining in critical but stable condition and in the intensive-care unit of the hospital. Regarding their emotional state, he declined to discuss specifics, but said of burn victims that “45 percent of all patients have some emotional trouble.”

While I am heartened by the news that the guys are expected to “fully recover”, I am concerned about their long-term healing process, tho. A year is a long time to endure a recovery regimen … I hope they both know that they’ve got a lot of people supporting them in their time of need. I am extremely thankful that the news isn’t worse … I look forward to the day when both men are able to be back on stage, doing the thing that they love most — performing.

I must mention how pretty disgusted I am with the way TMZ has been handing some of their reporting on this tragic accident. Last night, they posted a “tragic twist” tale on their site claiming that the reason a chartered private plane was used on Friday night was so that one of the deceased passengers, Travis’s assistant Chris Baker, could fly home to be with his wife who was “in labor” giving birth to their child:

Travis Barker’s assistant wanted to get home in time for his pregnant wife to give birth. We’ve now learned why Barker and his friends decided to get on that doomed lear jet in South Carolina late last night, and the explanation can only be described as a horribly cruel twist of fate. It all started some time yesterday, when Barker’s assistant, Chris Baker, told the guys that his wife was going into labor. Barker told him that he would do everything in his power to get Baker back to the hospital in time. The quickest way back to Van Nuys was that lear jet. We’re told Barker usually won’t fly on private jets, but made an exception for what was supposed to be one of the happiest moments of Baker’s life. The plane crashed shortly after midnight, killing four people — including Chris Baker. Baker’s wife went into labor early this morning.

This report was immediately refuted as a complete fabrication. Baker’s wife was not in labor … but I’m really bothered by the fact that TMZ decided to post the story anyways — even if true, what good reason did they have to exploit this “tragic” development? The story has been removed from TMZ’s website but I gotta say that I am really grossed out that they would even decide to post such a story in the first place.

[Source, Source]

Sad news to report today … last night, just before midnight, a small Lear jet carrying Travis Barker and DJ AM (Adam Goldstein) crashed in Columbia, South Carolina just after take-off killing four of the six passengers on board. Thankfully (and quite miraculously), both Travis and Adam survived the crash, tho each remains in critical condition at the Augusta Burn Center:

Officials with the Columbia Metropolitan Airport say a small jet has crashed killing four. Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen says the plane carrying six people was departing shortly before midnight Friday when air traffic controllers reported seeing sparks. She says the plane went off the runway and crashed on a nearby road. Federal officials say two crew members and two passengers have been killed. Lexington County Coroner Harry Harman has identified three of the victims. Harman says the pilot Sarah Lemmon, 31, of Anaheim Hills, CA co-pilot James Bland, 52, of Carlsbad, CA and Chris Baker, 29, of Studio City, CA all perished in the crash. Officials say two people have survived the crash and have been carried to the Augusta Burn Center. Officials at the Augusta Burn Center say they have Travis Barker, the former drummer from the band Blink-182, and Adam Michael Goldstein, aka DJ AM. Both are in critical condition. Barker and Goldstein were in Columbia Friday night for a concert at Five Points. William Owens was driving down Highway 302 when he said he saw a fireball go across the road. “I didn’t know what I had seen — it was maybe 800 feet in front of me, but as I approached it closer though I made out a fire. By then I was able to see the tail of the jet and I recognized it as a jet,” Owens said. Owens then described what he saw as he tried to make it to the wreckage. “It’s in flames and the fuel is running across the road and I had to cross the fuel to get to the two guys that seemed to have been dumped on the highway,” Owens said. Owens said the two men were running around and stripping down to extinguish themselves. He then asked the men if there was anyone else on board the plane and they said four more were with them. “We turned to the jet to try and see if there was anything we could do, but immediately, there was nothing anyone could do,” Owens said. The Five Points Association has released a statement saying that they are “deeply saddened by this event and our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim’s and their families.”

This is absolutely stunning … I am quite shocked and relieved that both Travis and Adam managed to make it out of the wreckage alive. My thoughts go out to the families of the other passengers on board this plane who weren’t so lucky. Wow. I really don’t know what else to say. It is my sincere hope that both men are able to recover fully from their injuries … let’s keep them both in our thoughts as they possibly begin a very long recovery process.

UPDATE: TMZ reports that Travis Barker suffered severe burns from the waist down and is expected to survive, DJ AM’s face was severely burned. Sadly, one of the passengers who died in this plane crash was Travis’s assistant Chris Baker … newly married and the father of a new baby :(

[Source, thanks Trish]