Video: 'The Jim Croce Story' (Sept. 20, 1973, at 28:00)

(Thursday, September 20, 1973, at about 10:45 p.m. CDT) — American folk and rock singer-songwriter Jim Croce, 30, and five other people were killed tonight when when their chartered Beechcraft E18S crashed into a tree during takeoff from the Natchitoches Regional Airport in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

The twin-engine plane crashed into a tree about 250 feet beyond the end of the paved, lighted runway at the airport.

Others killed in the crash were pilot Robert N. Elliott, Croce’s bandmate Maury Muehleisen, comedian George Stevens, manager and booking agent Kenneth D. Cortese, and road manager Dennis Rast.

An hour before the crash, Croce had completed a concert at Northwestern State University’s Prather Coliseum in Natchitoches; he was flying to Sherman, Texas, for a concert at Austin College.

Video: 'The death of Jim Croce - 1973 Beechcraft E18S crash'

Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, he took a series of odd jobs to pay bills while he continued to write, record, and perform concerts.

After Croce formed a partnership with songwriter and guitarist Maury Muehleisen in the early 1970s, his fortunes turned.

Croce’s breakthrough came in 1972; his third album, You Don’t Mess Around with Jim, produced three charting singles, including “Time in a Bottle,” which would reach No. 1 after Croce died.

The follow-up album, Life and Times, included the song “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown,” which was the only No. 1 hit he had during his lifetime.

Video: 'Jim Croce Live Final Concert Performance 9 20 1973'

An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) named the probable cause as the pilot’s failure to see the obstruction due to physical impairment and because fog reduced his vision.

The 57-year-old Elliott suffered from severe coronary artery disease and had run three miles to the airport from a motel. He had an ATP certificate, 14,290 hours total flight time, and 2,190 hours in the Beech 18 type airplane.

A later investigation placed the sole blame on pilot error because of his downwind takeoff into a “black hole” of severe darkness, limiting his use of visual references.

Croce would be buried at Haym Salomon Memorial Park in Frazer, Pennsylvania.