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1990 Daniel Johnston plane crash
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1990 aircraft incident in Arkansas, U.S.
{{cite report |title=Aviation Investigation Final Report: Fordyce, Arkansas (MKC90LA066) |publisher=[[National Transportation Safety Board]] |id=MKC90LA066 |url=https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/34943/pdf |format=PDF |access-date=May 30, 2026}}</ref"},"summary":{"wt":"[[Forced landing]] following ignition shutdown by passenger during [[Psychosis|psychotic episode]]"},"site":{"wt":"Wooded area near [[Fordyce, Arkansas]], United States"},"coordinates":{"wt":""},"aircraft_type":{"wt":"[[Beechcraft Musketeer|Beech A23 Musketeer]]"},"tail_number":{"wt":"N3520R"},"origin":{"wt":"[[Abilene, Texas]], United States"},"destination":{"wt":"[[Holly Springs, North Carolina]], United States"},"occupants":{"wt":"2"},"passengers":{"wt":"1"},"crew":{"wt":"1"},"fatalities":{"wt":"0"},"injuries":{"wt":"2"},"survivors":{"wt":"2"}},"i":0}}]}'
1990 Daniel Johnston plane crashAccidentDateMarch 17, 1990 (1990-03-17)[1]SummaryForced landing following ignition shutdown by passenger during psychotic episodeSite
Wooded area near Fordyce, Arkansas, United StatesAircraftAircraft typeBeech A23 MusketeerRegistrationN3520RFlight originAbilene, Texas, United StatesDestinationHolly Springs, North Carolina, United StatesOccupants2Passengers1Crew1Fatalities0Injuries2Survivors2
On March 17, 1990, American musician Daniel Johnston, while experiencing a psychotic episode, caused a two-seater private aircraft owned by his father, William "Bill" Johnston—a former World War II pilot—to crash near Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. Daniel was being flown home from Austin, Texas, following performances at the Austin Music Awards and the South by Southwest festival.
Mid-flight, Daniel removed the plane's ignition key and threw it out the window. The aircraft entered a tailspin, and both men struggled for the controls, before Bill leveled out and crash-landed in a wooded area. The plane was destroyed, though both survived with only minor injuries.
Daniel suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and had, unbeknownst to his father, stopped taking his prescribed medication. Following the crash, he was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital in West Virginia, and his father took charge of his medication. The crash is recounted in the 2005 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston, directed by Jeff Feuerzeig.
Background[edit]
Daniel Johnston was an American musician and visual artist who grew up in New Cumberland, West Virginia, and began self-releasing homemade cassette tape albums while living with his family.[2] After relocating to Austin, Texas, in the early 1980s, Johnston gained popularity in Austin's underground music scene and earned national attention following a 1985 appearance on the MTV program The Cutting Edge; however, he began exhibiting symptoms of mental illness, and was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.[3][4]
Throughout the late 1980s, Johnston was repeatedly committed to psychiatric hospitals following psychotic episodes.[5] This included attacking and hospitalizing his then-manager Randy Kemper with a lead pipe, believing Kemper was possessed by the devil;[2][6] being found by police singing hymns in a creek near the University of Texas at Austin after taking LSD, leading to his commitment at the Austin State Hospital;[6] and forcing his way into an elderly woman's apartment to perform an exorcism, causing her to jump from a second-story window and break several bones, prompting Johnston's court-ordered commitment.[5][7]
William "Bill" Johnston, Daniel's father and a former World War II pilot, had previously flown his son back from Austin to West Virginia after Daniel's release from Austin State Hospital.[6][7] Daniel returned to Austin in March 1990 to perform at the Austin Music Awards and the South by Southwest festival, with Bill flying him there in his plane.[2][6][8] Unbeknownst to Bill, Daniel had once again stopped taking the medication prescribed for his bipolar disorder, having previously done so during an April 1988 trip to New York City.[2][6]
Crash[edit]
Following Daniel's performances in Austin, he and Bill departed in the two-seater plane, a Beech A23 Musketeer with registration N3520R,[1] for their return to West Virginia.[2][8] South of Little Rock, Arkansas, at an altitude of approximately 6,500 feet, Daniel told his father he was going to be sick and reached over to turn off the engine; Bill turned the key back on. Daniel then threw a soda can out the window and demanded that Bill land on a nearby lake, with Bill responding that the plane could not land on water.[6] Daniel, who had been reading a comic depicting Casper the Friendly Ghost and Spooky in parachutes, believed he himself was Casper, and yelled "Let's bail out!" before turning off the ignition a second time and throwing the keys out the window.[6][7][9][10]
With the engine now dead, Daniel grabbed the controls, as he and Bill wrestled for them while the plane entered a tailspin.[6][10] Bill called out, "You'll kill us!" and Daniel replied, "I can't die!"[6] At the last moment, Daniel released the controls, allowing Bill to level out above the trees and aim for a clearing. The aircraft came up about 100 yards short, crashing into the treetops, where it lodged roughly 60 feet above the ground before falling straight down.[6] Both men survived with only minor injuries.[2][8]
The aircraft was destroyed following the crash.[11] After they climbed out of the wreckage, a farmer ran up to help them; Daniel threatened him, prompting Bill to say, "Leave him alone. He's out of his mind."[6] Walking out of the forest, the pair passed a rural church whose billboard read, "God promises a safe landing, but not a calm voyage."[7] Convinced that he had saved his father from Satan, Daniel took their survival as proof that God was winning a battle with Satan over his soul.[7][11]
Aftermath and legacy[edit]
Daniel Johnston with his father Bill, the pilot of the aircraft, in 2005
Following the crash, Johnston was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital in West Virginia.[12][13] Bill, having discovered that Daniel had stopped taking his medication, took charge of it himself.[9] Daniel's mother, Mabel, recalled that Bill at first resolved they would no longer have Daniel live with them, but later arranged to bring his son home; in 1991 the family moved to Waller, Texas, where Daniel lived when he was not hospitalized.[2][6]
Director Jeff Feuerzeig had been drawn to Daniel after the musician performed a one-hour radio special by telephone around the time of his 1990 hospitalization; Feuerzeig was among those who called in, and he resolved to make a documentary about Daniel afterwards.[7] He later featured the crash as director of the 2005 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston, in which Bill recounts the events of the crash.[7][10]
References[edit]
1 2
Aviation Investigation Final Report: Fordyce, Arkansas (MKC90LA066) (PDF) (Report). National Transportation Safety Board. MKC90LA066. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Watson, Eddie (August 11, 2021). "Johnston, Daniel Dale". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Archived from the original on July 12, 2025. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
↑
Sweeting, Adam (September 12, 2019). "Daniel Johnston obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
↑
Sisario, Ben (September 11, 2019). "Daniel Johnston Dies; Gifted and Enigmatic Songwriter Was 58". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 24, 2025. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
1 2
"Phantom of My Own Opera: SPIN's 1989 Daniel Johnston Profile". Spin. September 11, 2019 [March 1989]. Archived from the original on May 27, 2026. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Hall, Michael (February 2005). "He's Daniel Johnston, and He Was Gonna Be Famous". Texas Monthly. Archived from the original on December 21, 2025. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Brady, Tara (September 12, 2019). "RIP Daniel Johnston: Revisiting his classic interview with Hot Press". Hot Press. Archived from the original on April 4, 2026. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
1 2 3
"The 1990 Austin Music Awards featuring performances from Daniel Johnston, Townes Van Zandt, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and more". KUTX. March 10, 2025. Archived from the original on November 16, 2025. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
1 2
"Daniel Johnston, singer and songwriter who overcame schizophrenia and bipolar disorder to craft a unique and compelling body of work – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. October 29, 2019. p. 29. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on June 22, 2025. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
1 2 3
Boyd, Brian (April 14, 2006). "Crash landing". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on August 22, 2025. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
1 2
O'Hagan, Sean (April 2, 2006). "At war with his demons ... and Metallica". The Observer. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved May 27, 2026 – via The Guardian.
↑
Schube, Will (September 16, 2019). "The man who discovered Daniel Johnston". The Fader. Archived from the original on December 5, 2025. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
↑
"Troubled songwriter won cult following by making an art out of his inner turmoil". The Southland Times. Taranaki Daily News. September 20, 2019. p. 25. ISSN 0112-9910. Retrieved May 27, 2026 – via PressReader.
v
t
e
Daniel Johnston
DiscographyAlbums
Songs of Pain
Don't Be Scared
The What of Whom
More Songs of Pain
Yip/Jump Music
Hi, How Are You
Retired Boxer
Respect
Continued Story with Texas Instruments
Merry Christmas
It's Spooky (with Jad Fair)
1990
Artistic Vice
Fun
Rejected Unknown
Fear Yourself
Freak Brain
Lost and Found
Is and Always Was
Beam Me Up!
Space Ducks: Soundtrack
EPs
Big Big World
Laurie
Songs
"Walking the Cow"
Live albums
Live at SXSW
Frankenstein Love
Why Me?
Tribute albums
Dead Dog's Eyeball: Songs of Daniel Johnston
The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered
Films
The Devil and Daniel Johnston
The Angel and Daniel Johnston: Live at the Union Chapel
Hi, How Are You Daniel Johnston?
Related
Hi, How Are You (video game)
1990 Daniel Johnston plane crash
v
t
e
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1990 (1990)
Jan 15
SANSA Flight 32
Jan 25
Avianca Flight 052
Feb 10
East River helicopter crash
Feb 11
British Army Gazelle shootdown
Feb 14
Indian Airlines Flight 605
Mar 17
Daniel Johnston plane crash
Apr 9
Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2254
Apr 12
Widerøe Flight 839
Apr 30
RAF Shackleton crash
May 11
Philippine Airlines Flight 143
May 18
Aerolift Philippines Flight 075
Jun 10
British Airways Flight 5390
Jun 14
Iceland Piper PA-34 Seneca crash
Aug 2
British Airways Flight 149
Aug 27
Stevie Ray Vaughan helicopter crash
Sep 11
Faucett Perú Boeing 727 disappearance
Sep 14
Aeroflot Flight 8175
Oct 2
Guangzhou Baiyun airport collisions
Nov 14
Alitalia Flight 404
Nov 21
Bangkok Airways Flight 125
Dec 3
Wayne County Airport runway collision
Dec 6
Italian Air Force MB-326 crash
1989   ◄
►   1991
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