Travis Barker expressed gratitude to his wife, Kourtney Kardashian, for helping him heal enough to fly again after his plane crash in 2008.
“Just flew for the 30th time since my plane crash,” the Blink-182 drummer shared via Instagram’s new app Threads Wednesday.
“Wouldn’t be able to tour or enjoy life again the way I do without the healing love of my amazing wife. I love you @kourtneykardash.”
On Sept. 19, 2008, Barker, 47, survived a plane crash that occurred while flying back to Los Angeles from South Carolina.
He was traveling with his assistant, Chris Baker, security guard, Charles “Che” Still and his best friend, Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein.
Both Baker and Still died in the crash, along with both of the pilots.
Goldstein survived the crash, but died a year later from a prescription drug overdose.
Barker was in the hospital for 11 weeks after sustaining third-degree burns on more than half of his body. He underwent 27 separate surgeries to repair the damage.
“When I jumped through the emergency exit when the plane blew up, I was in such a hurry to exit the plane, I jumped right into the jet, which is full of fuel,” he recalled on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast in 2019.
“My whole body lit up. I had jet fuel in my whole body.”
In a 2016 interview with Larry King, Barker — who shares daughter Alabama and son Landon with his ex-wife, Shanna Moakler — said that he had a bad feeling prior to boarding.
“[Alabama] was hysterically crying that she didn’t want me to fly that day. She said, ‘The roof is going to come off,’ and I was like, ‘What happened? Was there an earthquake this morning? What triggered this?’ She just kept screaming it and crying it.”
The rocker didn’t step foot on an airplane for over a decade after the tragedy. However, that changed he began dating Kardashian, whom he married in May 2022.
In 2021, Barker joined the Poosh founder for a flight to Cabo on her sister Kylie Jenner’s private jet. Kris Jenner and her boyfriend, Corey Gamble, also made the trip.
A source told People at the time that the moment was a big step for the musician.
“It’s a huge deal that Travis flew to Cabo. The plane crash many years ago was extremely traumatizing. He has needed a lot of help to get to this point,” an insider told the outlet.
“Kourtney has been very supportive. She never pushed for him to fly. They have managed to travel in the US without having to fly, and Kourtney has been totally fine with it.”
A month after the flight, Barker told NYLON that Kardashian, 44, made him feel “invincible.”
“[Flying is] still something very new to me, but having something that gives me the strength and hope to be able to overcome things that were so traumatic in my life, it just says a ton,” he said.
“She’s definitely that for me. I’m invincible when I’m with her. It’s just, like, I never dreamed, I never even considered flying again.”
Since embarking on that pivotal flight in 2021, Barker has continued to travel around the world with his wife by his side.
The two are expecting their first child together.
