Cocaine link to crash
NZPA-AP Washington Federal investigators suspect a fire ignited by freebasing, a form of cocaine use, may have caused the New Year’s Eve plane crash that killed’ the singer, Rick Nelson, and six others, a “Washington Post” article claimed yesterday. Sources said Nelson’s body contained a measurable level of unmetabolised cocaine, which means the drug had not been absorbed into his system at the time of death, the paper said. Final laboratory reports were not available yet, sources said. Free-basing requires mixing cocaine with flammable ether or ammonia. The freebase cocaine is usually smoked in a glass pipe held over a steady flame. Both the pilot and copilot, who survived the crash, told investigators they tried to land the plane after a fire started in the passenger cabin, the report said.
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Press, 16 January 1986, Page 8
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134Cocaine link to crash Press, 16 January 1986, Page 8
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