A cockpit fire forced a chartered plane carrying Ratt and Dokken to make an emergency landing in Moline, Illinois today. Nobody was injured in the incident.
According to CBS News, smoke appeared in the front of the plane after takeoff, as the Challenger 601 reached an altitude of about 7,000 feet. The pilots were able to don oxygen masks and return the plane to the Moline airport from which they took off. “The cabin didn’t fill with smoke,” reported Chuck Brennan, a friend of the bands who chartered the plane out of California for the groups’ current four-city tour.
“We are ok!,” Ratt assured their fans on Facebook. Then, proving once again that you cannot stop rock and roll, they promised that tonight’s show at the Deacons Event Center in the Chicago area was still on. “On the way to Wauconda. The tour rolls on…”
I was at this show last night and Eddie Trunk came out and told us all about it before Lita Ford played. Don Dokken joked that he was wondering if the smoke in the plane was from his joint or the cockpit. He should've been drinking green tea or something instead judging from the suck ass vocal performance he turned in.
Ratt (excellent)
Sebastian Bach (excellent)
Dokken (sucked - not rockin')
Lita Ford (good even though she was plagued with sound problems for the first couple of songs in her set)
Warrant (good)
Kip Winger (acoustic set surprisingly good)
Hessler (good)
p.s. Bobby Rock played well.
