The audio from when Prince’s plane made an emergency landing earlier this month was released on Monday, April 25, and it turns out that the reason for the sudden landing was life-threatening.
In the clip obtained by TMZ, the pilot of the plane (“990”) calls in to say he needs to get the aircraft on the ground in Moline, Illinois, as soon as possible. The controller accommodates the request and says at one point, “CFR [certified first responder] will be waiting.”
The plane made its emergency landing six days before Prince died at age 57, last Thursday, April 21. TMZ reported last week that the “Purple Rain” legend — who was coming off his final performance on April 20 — had supposedly overdosed on the painkiller Percocet, and received a “save shot” as soon as his plane landed in Moline.
At the time, Prince’s rep told Us Weekly that the singer was grappling with flu-like symptoms. He was treated and released three hours later.
Dr. Drew Pinsky opened up to The Hollywood Reporter on Saturday, April 23, about the bizarre flight incident. “They don’t land planes for the flu,” Dr. Drew, 57, told the mag, and speculated that Prince’s condition was likely due to a “combination of oral opiates and Benzodiazepines” and is “extraordinarily dangerous.”
The seven-time Grammy winner was found dead in his elevator at his Paisley Park compound in Chanhassen, MN. Police said Prince, who was fully clothed inside the elevator, had no phone on him at the time. His autopsy was completed on Friday, April 22, and results are pending.
