Officials: Mexican-American Singer Jenni Rivera Killed in Plane Crash

MONTERREY, Mexico -- Singer and Long Beach native Jenni Rivera has reportedly been killed in a plane crash early Sunday morning, officials said. Transportation and communication minister Gerardo Ruiz Esparza tells Mexican television that the plane was found in Nuevo Leon state without survivors. The minister said that "everything points toward it being the plane" that carried Rivera and six others. The U.S.-registered Learjet 25 went missing early Sunday after taking off from the city of Monterrey. Two pilots and four other passengers were also believed killed in the crash, Mexico's transportation ministry said in a statement. The plane took off around 3:15 a.m. from Monterrey, Mexico after the singer left a concert in the city. About 60 miles into the flight, the plane lost contact with air traffic controllers. The 43-year-old singer was born in Long Beach, California and is known for within the banda and norteña music genres. Rivera was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award in 2002 in the category of "Best Banda Album." She starred in a Telemundo reality show, "I Love Jenni," last year. She is a judge on the popular TV show, "The Voice, Mexico," which was scheduled to air Sunday night. Noting its concern for Rivera, Mexican broadcaster Televisa said it would air a special report on the singer instead. A fellow judge on the show took to Twitter following news of Rivera's disappearance. "My heart is devastated," wrote Beto Cuevas. "All my prayers are with you, Jenni, and your family." In October, People en Espanol named Rivera to its list of the 25 most powerful women.

http%3A//www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-mexican-singer-jenni-rivera-plane-missing%2C0%2C6632225.story



• Plane crash - please. Try getting murdered by an obsessed fan if you want true fame!

  Selena

• Who??

• Watch one of the eldergays post about how a 'spic dying is no great loss'.

• She probably packed just one bag too many...

  Aaliyah

• Who?

  Lana%20Kane

• Who?

  The%20world%2Cincluding%20the%20pilot

• R3, we notice how you offensively got the nasty statement in while pretending to wait for someone else to say it. You're a turd. But you know that, don't you? As for me, I was simply going to note that it is refreshing for once to hear about a Mexican-American (sic) who didn't die by being beheaded. Although, of course, I am devastated by this loss to the moistened dorsal community. Again, R3, you're disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.

• The Day the Music That No One Ever Heard Died

  Don%20McLean

• I can play her in the movie! I won't even have to train myself to respond to a different name.

  Jenny%20from%20the%20Block

• [R3] you are disgusting

• LOL @ R7

• Is she one of those American Idol people? I don't have no truck with those American Idol people.

  the "I don't have no truck" troll

• She was getting divorced and was worth millions. The aircraft accident site was a totally free for all.. someone got video of the crash site and sold it already. They are spending hours on this on Telemundo.

• Why can't anyone else have a singer they love without your racism and disrespect? [R3] more than disgusting.

  Hispanic%20here

• R3 was just calling out the racist before he got here. You couldn't notice R5's 'moistened dorsal' comment, R7 and R10? That's where your anger should be directed, children.

  Mexican-American

• R15, sorry your sensibilities are too focused on the literal to understand the point, but, really, the assholes here (include yourself if you need to) should continue to attend to R3, rather than the obvious DL satirical point. R3 was nailing both older gays and Hispanics. Know your enemies, papi. And I'm sorry for your loss. If you have one.

  R5

• [R15] Don't ever use that word, period.

• I'm so sick of this site and it's race baiting, already. You can't post a thread without an asshole like R3 turning it into an inevitable shitfest of make-believe racism or sexism.

• Where do I audition?

  Selena%20Gomez

• Where do *I* audition?

  Justin%20Bieber

• At least she ain't fish food.

  Aaliyah

• Possibly 3 of the 7 killed were gay, publicist Arturo Rivera, makeup artist Jacob Yebale, and stylist Jorge Sanchez.

• I wasn't a fan of the genre but even I heard of her from family and Spanish tv. Had she been known in the English world more, I think DL would have loved her. Drama trashy queen like no other. RIP

• Banda is one of many international genres now ignored in the post-Clear Channel world.

• Would mariachi qualify as Banda? Example, Ana Gabriel wouldn't be categorized with her. Right?

• Banda has origins in German immigrant bands (oompa) melding with Mexican styles, including mariachi, but not much on the latter -- that music is tighter with ranchera.

• There you go r26. It's Ranchera I was thinking of. Mariachi and old 40's Spanish songs are the only ones I can stomach.

• The family was having a hard time accepting she was gone until Mexican officials released the theory that, based on the wreckage and radar reads, the plane appeared to suddenly dive from flight level and smashed into the ground a over 600 mph. That sounds to me like someone (or something) was thrown against the yoke, which put the jet into a dive. This sort of dive occurred in the PSA 1778 crash back in 1988 when a disgruntled employee who had just been fired managed to board a flight and then shot the pilots, who fell against the yoke and dived the plane into the ground. This sort of dive is also seen when a pilot has a heart attack and falls forward against the yoke. When a plane hits the ground at such a speed, the remains are usually dispersed, and yet a good medical examiner can not only sort them all out, but examine the pieces and find evidence. This particular Lear 25 had been in an accident before, but was fixed and re-certified by the FAA. This fact is making the rounds on the news, but unless the plane cracked in half, and that caused the dive, I am thinking it had something to do with what happened in the cockpit.

• Mexican authorities said they've found no evidence of emergency calls before the plane crash that claimed the life of singer Jenni Rivera. Rivera, who lived in Encino, is believed to have died Sunday when her small plane crashed shortly after taking off in Mexico. Her family was set to fly from Los Angeles to Mexico to survey the crash scene. Alejandro Argudin, a leader of the crash probe in Mexico, told a radio station there were no records of emergency calls from the pilot before the crash. PHOTOS: Jenni Rivera dies in plane crash Mexican officials told reporters Monday night that they believed her plane dropped 28,000 feet at speeds that might have exceeded 600 mph. “The plane practically nose-dived. The impact must have been terrible,” official Gerardo Ruiz Esparza told a Mexican radio station, according to the Associated Press. Authorities said they believe they have found her remains but are awaiting DNA testing. PHOTOS: Jenni Rivera - Reactions to the tragic crash Rivera's brothers said they still hold out some hope that she is alive but said they were prepared for the worst. "We still have hope that she's alive," Pedro Rivera Jr., the singer's brother, told the Long Beach Press-Telegram. "It's a 95% chance that she's dead, but we have that belief because we don't have a body. They found clothes." "If God doesn't come through, he is still the one who gives us life," he added. An appreciation: Jenni Rivera was a rare voice Scores of fans held a vigil outside the singer's home, some singing Rivera's songs and tearfully mourning her apparent death.

  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/12/jenni-rivera-death-no-emergency-calls-before-plane-crash.html

• No need to 'papi', R10. I'm not from the Caribbean, so that's not part of our lexicon. (Unless we're making fun of white people's cluelessness. No one earnestly calls anyone 'papi' in Mexican-American communities unless they're five and talking to their father.) I like how you're in high dudgeon mode, but ignorant about the discrete community that this actually hurts.

  Mexican-American

• Still with this?

• Sister Jude has not yet reported back whether she found the Mexican or not. So not all hope is lost.

• R7, blow it out your rear, you thin, slightly salted, biscuit.

• I met her once at a press conference. She was extremely polite, sweet and grateful to be working. RIP, Jenni.

• One less stink-fish = good!

  Mrs%20Patrick%20Campbell%20%28hates%20fish%29

• [quote]Jenni Rivera was in the final stages of buying the private jet that crashed in Mexico on Sunday, killing the famed Mexican American singer, two pilots and four members of her entourage, an executive who was selling the plane told The Times. [quote]In a telephone interview from Mexico City, the executive, Christian E. Esquino Nunez, also said that the Learjet 25 was perfectly maintained. Esquino, 50, said he believes [bold]the 78-year-old pilot suffered a heart attack or was incapacitated in some way[/bold], and that a “green” co-pilot was unable to save the plane. 78? 78 fucking years old?

  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/12/jenni-rivera-plane.html

  How%20typically%20Mexican

• According to the 78-yr.old's pilot license/certification recovered at the scene, he was not qualified/authorized to actually pilot the plane-he was restricted to VFR only, and only with a certain other pilot aboard, and he wasn't authorized to pilot other passengers.

  Good luck, we're all counting on you

• Also according to reports this particular plane - a Learjet - can accelerate wildly out of control if you are not accumstomed to flying it. They say the plane hit the ground at a 90 degree angle at about 1100 KPH or 600 MPH. I would think they would not have felt any pain, correct? If it was me and I saw that pilot - I would have asked the plane to be grounded until he was replaced with someone certified to fly that plane. Who cares if I'm filming "The Voice" or not!

• R37 if so how on earth can a person get on the plane to fly it. Don't they check credentials? How do these things work? Does the pilot come with the plane charter or can you hire an independent and rent the plane separately?

• What was her most famous songs? Duh I'm sorry for her accident...

• I cannot believe the pilot was 78 years old. The elderly are nightmares on the highway let alone piloting a jet.

• Jenni Rivera crash: Officers allegedly stole items, took graphic photos December 14, 2012 | 6:43 am As Jenni Rivera's remains were positively identified Thursday, two police officers were arrested in the alleged theft of materials from the site where the singer's plane crashed Sunday. Authorities told Mexican media that "victim's belongings" were found at the homes of the two officers. The Associated Press reported that one of the officers allegedly took graphic photos of the crash site, including of body parts. Rivera's plane plummeted nose-first Sunday, 28,000 feet in 30 seconds, leaving its wreckage — and the remains of Rivera and six others — splayed across the side of the mountain like a wash of pebbles. Authorities have been combing the area for clues ever since, though they said they have not determined the cause of the crash. PHOTOS: Jenni Rivera dies in plane crash Rivera, 43, a mother of five and master of a growing international business empire, was killed when the jet crashed early Sunday morning near Iturbide, Mexico. Authorities have said that Rivera’s camp chartered the flight from Starwood Management to ferry her from a performance in Monterrey, Mexico, to an appearance near Mexico City. PHOTOS: Jenni Rivera - Reactions to the tragic crash In a telephone interview from Mexico City, an executive at the firm that owns the plane, Christian E. Esquino Nunez, said that the Learjet 25 was perfectly maintained. Esquino, 50, said he believes that the 78-year-old pilot suffered a heart attack or was incapacitated in some other way, and that a “green” co-pilot was unable to save the plane. “We’re all grieving,” said Esquino, who described himself as the operations manager of the company that owned the Learjet 25, Starwood Management LLC of Las Vegas. “I’m definitely very sorry that this happened.” Esquino said maintenance and safety issues “had nothing to do with the accident.” He said the 1969 Learjet had been based and maintained in Houston for the last 10 years, and underwent a top-to-bottom inspection this summer. The same plane, according to U.S. aviation records, sustained “substantial” damage in 2005 when a fuel imbalance left one wing tip weighing as much as 300 pounds more than the other. The unnamed pilot, despite having logged more than 7,000 hours in the air, lost control while landing in Amarillo, Texas, and struck a runway distance marker. No one was injured. An appreciation: Jenni Rivera was a rare voice Esquino called that accident “minor” and said the plane had flown without issue for 1,000 hours since then. He said the only conceivable explanation for the crash is that 78-year-old pilot Miguel Perez Soto was incapacitated. He said that while the Learjet was a fine airplane, “it has some critical characteristics.” “Once it gets out of normal flight mode … it’s hard to recover,” said Esquino, himself a pilot for many years.

  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/12/jenni-rivera-crash-officers-allegedly-stole-items-took-graphic-photos.html

  So%2C%20so%2C%20Mexican

• Her autographed baseball is going for $600 on ebay(actual bids).