Travis Barker's Jet Started Depressurizing on His Third-Ever Flight Following Plane Crash

"I had someone tell the pilot: 'No cowboy shit. Just land this fucking plane, please.'"

Photo: micadew

BY Alex HudsonPublished Oct 30, 2023

Travis Barker comes by his fear of flying extremely honestly, having survived a 2008 plane crash that killed four of the six people on board and left the blink-182 drummer with PTSD and burns on most of his body. He recently returned to air travel with encouragement from his wife, Kourtney Kardashian, but this apparently hasn't gone entirely smoothly, since the cabin began depressurizing on his third flight back.

He recounted the story to the Los Angeles Times. "You've gotta be kidding me. God, please. Please," he recalled saying. "I had someone tell the pilot: 'No cowboy shit. Just land this fucking plane, please. Don't try to be a hero.' But I have no control over it. I don't know if I'll ever feel comfortable."

When Barker flies, he phones Kardashian as well as his kids and his dad. He prays and listens to guided recordings from an energy healer, then puts on noise-cancelling headphones and keeps his eyes shut. "It takes a little piece of my life every time I fly," he said. "The amount of stress and anxiety it causes is just unbearable. It brings up all this old trauma, and sometimes I'm like, 'Is this worth it?' But I don't like anything having a hold on me, either — I don't like being afraid, and I don't like having things from my past control my future."

Despite the scary situation, Barker has continued to fly. In September, he flew back and forth from Europe to be by Kardashian's side when she had to go to the hospital for fetal surgery.

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