WI: The Day the Music Died, Elvis version (April 13, 1956)

Osakadave

Osakadave

Looking up sonething for the current Elvis lives thread, I found an interesting tidbit - on April 13, 1956, Elvis almost died in a plane crash.


April 13, The charted flight (At a cost of $1000) that Elvis and the band take to Nashville for a one day recording session set up at the last minute by Steve Sholes is plagued by problems.

First the pilot loses his way and has to land in El Dorado, Arkansas, to refuel.

Then one of the engines cuts out because the plane has not been switched over to it's full tank.

'Man, I don't know if I'll ever fly again', Elvis announces when he arrives in Nashville.
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http://www.elvispresleymusic.com.au/elvis-presley-1956.html

Note that this happens after he records "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Blue Suede Shoes" but before recording "Don't Be Cruel", "Hound Dog", and "Love Me Tender". And Elvis would have released the Elvis Presley EP only.

So, what happens?
 

desmirelle

Weather. An overtired pilot, a sudden storm (not sure about Arkansas, but in Oklahoma the joke is: if you don't like the weather, hang around fifteen minutes, it'll change), and downburst of air, a lightning strike and you've made yourself a mess of the pretty little plane you rented.
 
Emperor Norton I

Emperor Norton I

Lost Freeway said:
A faulty engine alone will not bring down a plane-pilots are taught how to deal with that as part of their basic training. You'd have to come up with something much bigger.
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*Rushes to defense*

In this scenario, assume the plane has mechanical failures that did not occur in the OTL, but in this TL exist and cause it to crash fatally. If the OP is cool with that position. In short, just roll with it. The younger generation of AH has gotten rather nit-picky. You should always strive to make the scenario work and assume it does work, and talk about the effects of it working, rather than making it not work and discussing all the ways it won't work. Unless it is so beyond the pale of ridiculousness. This is not. It helps no one to split every hair on how a scenario won't work when you can easily believe it was in the realm of possibility. It's just talking into the wind. Elvis could have died in a plane crash. Crazy things happen in this fickle, random world. Roll with it.
 

desmirelle

Add to that: back then, the pilots weren't taught as thoroughly as they are now. The licensing wasn't as stringent and the training not as thorough.
 

Lost Freeway

Banned
Emperor Norton I said:
*Rushes to defense*

In this scenario, assume the plane has mechanical failures that did not occur in the OTL, but in this TL exist and cause it to crash fatally. If the OP is cool with that position. In short, just roll with it. The younger generation of AH has gotten rather nit-picky. You should always strive to make the scenario work and assume it does work, and talk about the effects of it working, rather than making it not work and discussing all the ways it won't work. Unless it is so beyond the pale of ridiculousness. This is not. It helps no one to split every hair on how a scenario won't work when you can easily believe it was in the realm of possibility. It's just talking into the wind. Elvis could have died in a plane crash. Crazy things happen in this fickle, random world. Roll with it.
Click to expand...
I can't help it: I've watched too many episodes of Air Crash Investigation.:p
 
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