The members of country band The Red Clay Strays recently revealed they “almost died” after the private jet they were flying in malfunctioned.
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While speaking to Yahoo! Entertainment at the 2026 ACM Awards, guitarist Zach Rishel revealed the “most country thing” he and his bandmates experienced recently.
“We almost died in that private jet. Part of our engine cowling flew off during takeoff,” he said.
The group’s bassist, Andrew Bishop, further explained that the aircraft had circled around Mobile, Alabama, for about two hours to burn off enough jet fuel to land again. The band ended up taking a different plane to Las Vegas for the award show.
Drummer John Hall also shared a photo of the private jet’s broken engine. He pointed out that the malfunction happened “in the air.”
“It was terrifying,” the drummer declared.
Along with winning Group of the Year, The Red Clay Strays performed “Demons in Your Choir” at the 2026 ACM Awards.
The Band Previously Experienced Another Incident on a Private Jet
The private jet malfunction occurred less than a year after The Red Clay Strays experienced another situation while up in the air.
While attending a country music festival in Salt Lake City last fall, the bandmates experienced extreme turbulence.
“Apparently we hit an over 40 degree bank while trying to land in Salt Lake,” the bandmates shared in an Instagram post, which featured a video of the group as their private jet hit turbulence. “Naturally as we thought the plane was going down.”
Of course, Bishop thought it was the perfect time for him to play Lynyrd Skynyrd’s hit song “Freebird.”
“Seriously though, very thankful to our pilots for their quick-thinking and coolness under pressure,” the band added. “Y’all rock!”
Fans and fellow musicians took to the post’s comment section to share their reactions.
“Nope. F— that all the way. God I hate flying,” Billy Strings wrote. “I have reoccurring nightmares about plane crashes all the time. Shit drives me nuts.. I’m typing this on my way to the airport coming home from Dublin.”
Dexter and The Moonrocks bandmates also wrote, “‘If we’re gonna go down we’re gonna go down to Skynyrd.’ Iconic.”
Meanwhile, Chase McDaniel declared, “Skynyrd does one of two things in that situation, throw you worse in a panic attack or make everything better. Glad yall are safe.”