While many remember the 1986 bus crash that claimed the life of Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, there was a band crew member who actually survived the crash while trapped alongside Burton who recently shared his story on the Beardo and Weirdo Podcast (seen below).
The guitar tech is longtime industry veteran Aidan Mullen and he opened up about the harrowing experience of being trapped and hoping for rescue as Burton laid across his arm in the wreckage from the crash.
What Did Aidan Mullen Recall From the 1986 Metallica Bus Crash?
According to Mullen, he was a newer member to the band’s crew at the time of the accident and had only just started to bond with Burton. When the crash occurred in Sweden, Mullen had been sleeping in the bunk above the bassist.
“Long story short, the bus hit some black ice, spun around and flipped on its side facing the opposite direction it was traveling in. It did a 180 [degree turn]. I’m a light sleeper on buses more now than before that, but I woke up before the darn thing did what it did and I’ll never forget it for as long as I live,” shared Mullen.
Speaking about the bus and later revealing laws had been changed as a result of the accident, Mullen recalled, “Back then there were no laws on how tour coaches were designed, particularly on the inside. And in this case they had started with a bus that had windows all the way down the sides and then they put plywood walls up against the windows … but when the bus flipped, I was in a bunk above Cliff and the force of the bus leaning over and hitting the ground not at speed, but it was moving when this happened, so there was more force to it than if it had just laid over on its side. So when it hit the ground, that window broke and the two of us went through the window holes.”
“The way it worked out was that Cliff was laying on my arm,” he continued. “And I was laying length wise within the rectangular window hole that was big enough to accommodate me…and Cliff was laying on me at an angle. And he didn’t survive obviously because the bus came down on top of us.”
How Was Aidan Mullen Rescued?
Within the discussion, Mullen credits Metallica’s then production manager Bobby Schneider with saving his life. As he recounted in his story, assorted debris and personal effects from within the bus had been piled on top of both he and Burton leaving neither able to move.
“I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move. I barely knew at that point what had happened. I did not know what was going on with Cliff, who was next to me. I didn’t know who, what, where, when, how. I was struggling to breathe, couldn’t breathe, but I remember when it seemed like it dragged on for minutes and minutes but it was only probably 30 seconds or so, but I realized I’m not gonna make it out of this. I can’t breathe. I’m suffocating. I thought of my folks, my friends and thought what a shitty thing to happen,” Mullen recalled. “And then all of a sudden, things began moving around me. Things were being pulled off of me in a frantic way.”
READ MORE: Why Cliff Burton Was Metallica’s Secret Weapon?
Schneider had apparently crawled through an escape hatch in the roof of the bus to see if anyone was still left inside. It was then that he spotted Mullen’s legs moving amidst the pile of debris.
“Things were being pulled off of me and all of a sudden I could breathe and then more stuff got pulled off and I heard Bobby’s voice saying, ‘Take it easy. We got you. Hopefully you’re going to be okay,'” Mullen recalled. “I couldn’t feel my arm. I couldn’t move my arm. And I looked over and I realized someone was laying across my arm next to me. And I realized after a minute, it was likely Cliff. He wasn’t moving, but neither was I at that point. Bobby said, ‘Just take it easy, we’ll get you out of there.’ And I said, ‘Bobby, I’ll help Cliff. Help me get him out of here.’ And I just remember Bobby saying quietly, ‘Don’t worry about Cliff.’ It didn’t dawn on me. I didn’t understand what he meant by that.”
Eventually, a jack was used to get the bus uprighted to a position to rescue Mullen. He joked that upon being wheeled into the hospital with two beautiful Swedish nurses, he wondered if he didn’t make it. Amongst his injuries were broken toes and fingers and a dislocated shoulder. And Mullen admits to still having some anxiety when being aboard a bus as it starts to exit or waking up breathless.
What Did Aidan Mullen Recall of Cliff Burton?
While he was still relatively new to the tour, Mullen admitted that he hadn’t spent much time with Burton until sitting with him on a continental flight. And he added that the period in which they most bonded was during the activities that happened during the evening before the accident took place.
“Cliff, I remember him being kind of quiet. I didn’t have much interaction with him until the night that he passed,” shared Mullen. “After the show that we did that night, he and I were hanging out with a few locals having a few drinks and having a great time — laughing, carrying on, hooting and hollering. And it was amazing that that was my last night with him and his last night with us.”
Former Metallica Tech Aidan Mullen Guests on The Beardo and Weirdo Podcast
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Gallery Credit: Rob Carroll
