Travis Barker has flown on an airplane for the first time since surviving a deadly 2008 plane crash that killed four passengers.
On Saturday (Aug. 14), the 45-year-old Blink-182 drummer flew to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with his girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian, marking the musician’s first flight in nearly 13 years, according to photos obtained by TMZ.
In the runway snapshots, Barker and Kardashian are seen leaving Los Angeles in Kylie Jenner’s private jet, en route to Cabo for a vacation. Kris Jenner and her boyfriend Cory Gamble were also on board the flight, which landed safely at its destination, TMZ reports.
Neither Barker nor Kardashian had posted about the flight on social media at press time.
Barker was involved in a devastating 2008 plane crash that killed his assistant Chris Baker, security guard Charles Monroe Still Jr., and pilots Sarah Lemmon and James Bland. The accident also led to a three month hospitalization for the superstar drummer, who had burns on 65% of his body and required 26 surgeries and several skin grafts. Barker’s friend and musical parter DJ AM (Adam Goldstein) was also injured in the crash, and died a year later from a drug overdose.
In June, Barker contemplated the idea of once again taking to the skies. “I might fly again,” he tweeted alongside an airplane emoji.
In a recent interview with Men’s Health, Barker said surviving the accident and the long recovery that followed inspired him to get clean.
“People are always like, ‘Did you go to rehab?’” said Barker, who had developed such a high opioid tolerance that he’d sometimes wake up during surgery. “And I [say], ‘No, I was in a plane crash.’ That was my rehab. Lose three of your friends and almost die? That was my wake-up call. If I wasn’t in a crash, I would have probably never quit.”
“There’s a million things that could happen to me,” the drummer added. “I could die riding my skateboard. I could get in a car accident. I could get shot. Anything could happen. I could have a brain aneurysm and die. So why should I still be afraid of airplanes?”
Of flying again, he told the magazine, “I have to … I want to make the choice to try and overcome it.”
