1969 Newton Cessna 172 crash observed the airplane reverse its course and then heard a loud sound as it crashed. Iowa had two other air accidents involving celebrities during the 1950s and 1960s: the 3 February 1959 crash near Clear Lake that took the lives of rock and roll stars Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper (plus their pilot), and an incident involving the Minneapolis Lakers (NBA basketball team) on 18 January 1960, when their DC-3 aircraft crash-landed in a cornfield near Carroll, with no injuries. 1969 Newton Cessna 172 crash On August 31, 1969, a Cessna 172 crashed in Newton, Iowa, killing
Ritchie Valens accident. It is located on private farmland, about one-quarter mile west of the intersection of 315th Street and Gull Avenue, about north of Clear Lake. He also created a similar stainless-steel monument to the three musicians that was installed near the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, Wisconsin. That memorial was unveiled on July 17, 2003. A park in Pacoima was renamed in Ritchie Valens' honor in the 1990s. Originally named Paxton Park, a city council member representing Pacoima proposed the renaming to honor Valens so residents will "remember his humble background and emulate his accomplishments." Musician Tommy Allsup started a