Honoring the Memory of Reba McEntire’s Lost Band Members

Reba McEntire understands the pain of losing loved ones very deeply. In 1991, something very tragic happened that changed her life. During one of her concerts, a terrible plane crash occurred, and it took the lives of her tour manager and seven band members whom she cherished.

This heartbreaking event happened on March 16, 1991, after Reba and her band had given an amazing performance in San Diego. The plan was for the band to fly from Brown Field Municipal Airport to Fort Wayne, Indiana for their next concert.

However, by luck, Reba, her husband and manager at the time, Narvel Blackstock, and her stylist Sandi Spika didn’t board the first plane; they stayed in San Diego for the night. The rest of the band and the tour manager got on the first plane.

The second plane took off without any problems and safely reached its destination. Tragically, just ten miles east of the airport, the first plane carrying the people Reba cared about crashed, changing the lives of those who were left behind.

In a 2012 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Reba bravely talked about what happened. She said, “The plane’s wing hit a boulder on the edge of Otay Mountain, and everyone on board lost their lives.” When they received the news, Narvel talked to their pilot and explained what had occurred.

Narvel returned to the hotel room where Reba was waiting for news very late at night, around two or three in the morning. As they tried to make sense of what happened, the sadness was overwhelming. Narvel told Reba, “One of the planes crashed.”