Being Evel Page #8

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right when we pulled in,

there was a man

and woman naked, uh--

you know, having sex

right there under a tree.

i saw all the people

that were drinking

and smoking pot,

and they were pretty wild.

( band playing "the stars

and stripes forever" )

we fired up the band.

it's like

the whole place arose.

oh, they--

the crowd went wild, yeah.

absolutely, they were totally

prepared for a celebration.

lisac:
the crowd

just started mingling

and just wanted to play

our instruments.

they tugged and pulled,

and next thing we know

we're separated a good 100 yards

away from the rest of the band.

so we were basically fighting

for our lives,

as far as i was concerned.

at that point,

they just stuffed my tuba

full of everything--

beer bottles, popcorn,

peanuts, rocks.

i pulled a bra out of there.

i never played a note.

we also had with us

the drill team,

and the drill team,

their name was the purple bees,

and a good friend of mine,

they tore her dress right off.

totally tore her dress off.

i guess

we all thought of this

as something different than

what it was really gonna be.

john hood:

the crowd were given

oh, beer,

and when the beer

was closed up,

that's when it got

kind of rowdy.

rundle:
they actually rolled

the beer trucks over--

the semis, over on their side,

shot the locks off,

and everybody was walking

through the camps

with cases of beer.

next thing you know,

they took the outhouses,

and they took 'em down,

and they started

just dumping them over,

and they lit them on fire.

the place was absolutely

out of control at that point.

things got as bad as it could

get bad without somebody dying.

that's as simple as that--

just as bad as it could be.

i could hear

out in the darkness,

i can hear the girls

being raped.

i can hear fights going on.

you know, i can hear gunshots

going off, you know,

but there's nothing

i could do.

and finally i reached the point

where i said,

"you know what? i'm gonna call

the national guard in."

so i called them up,

and he says, "don, i'm sorry,

"but our men are split up,

"and i just can't

come out there to help you.

you're on your own, son."

and i hung up that phone,

and i felt like crying.

reporter:
there were more

than 33,000 paid admissions.

as you can see,

they needed control.

they were perilously close

to the edge of the canyon

some 600 feet straight down.

what i was concerned about

is that there was this canyon.

there's this killer canyon

in front of you,

and they put up

a standard cyclone fence.

i mean, just push it,

and it'd fall over.

and i thought to myself,

everybody's gonna rush

to that edge of the canyon

to see what happens.

and then you're gonna have

people pushing from behind,

and like the lemmings

in the sea,

they're gonna go

right over the edge.

campoy:
you know,

i thought it was pretty ironic

how don e.

solved the security problem.

he went down to where

the hell's angels were camped

and hired them to come up

and provide security

for us there.

i went there and i explained

to them what i'll do.

"here's what i'll do--

i got $1,000 in cash,

"and i want you

to guard the fence

and keep the people

on that side of the fence."

and the guy said,

"are you bullshitting me?"

i said, "am i gonna bullshit

with you guys here?"

"okay, you got a deal,

mister."

( laughs )

saltman:

on the morning of the jump,

i looked at him

and i saw a very pensive,

very reflective,

very quiet man.

he didn't look comfortable.

i don't know why he would

look comfortable,

climbing into a tin can

to fly over a canyon.

reporter:
there is

bob treaux himself,

the chief engineer

testing the wind.

sprow:
the 15-mile-an-hour wind

was not the right direction.

we recommended to knievel

he delay the launch.

pavlovich:
i just said,

"you know, bob, i don't think

you ought to do it.

"i think this is crazy.

i think this thing

isn't gonna make it."

he says, "i can't back out now.

too much has been said.

they'd call me a coward."

he says he's not gonna do that.

"i'm going and that's it."

i've got a team behind me

with mr. treuax

and all of those boys are 100%,

and... i think we'll do it.

i wish the wind

wasn't blowing so hard,

but i think we'll do it.

saltman:

there was no braggadocio.

there was no bravado.

as the time counted off,

he'd said to his family,

"let's pray."

robbie knievel:

yeah, i remember my dad

brought me in the trailer

and that...

truck...

( sniffles )

the whole family.

and he hugged me

and says, "i love you."

and he didn't know

what was gonna happen.

he was like,

"god, take care of me."

linda and the children

were crying,

especially the little girl.

yeah, that was a very

sobering moment.

you know,

suddenly i realized...

have i had a hand

in getting a man killed?

reporter:

there he goes up the ramp

toward the launch site

and towards the vehicle.

and he's being introduced

to the crowd now.

i've never been afraid

in my life of dying.

i think that a man

was put here on earth to live,

not just to exist.

and today

is the proudest day

of my life.

i'm living a dream

that they thought could never

be done, but it'll be done.

saltman:
and then instead

of a roar, a silence--

like an eerie silence

fell over the crowd

because this guy truly

might be going to his death.

branker:

evel got out of the crane

and into the sky cycle,

and the whole time,

patriotic music

is being played,

and at that time,

even i got emotional a bit.

sprow:

fecundo and i strapped him in,

and got a couple of pictures

of him in the cockpit.

campoy:
he looked

a lot different than he did

when we started this project.

his hair was gray,

and he was really serious.

saltman:

we had a big clock--

10 seconds,

nine seconds.

branker:
eight, seven--

you look at the audience,

no one's even breathing.

five... four...

announcer:

three, two, one.

saltman:
immediately,

something failed.

it fizzled.

it went down like a bullet.

reporter:
the parachute is out.

the main chute is out.

there she goes.

reporter:

it's going to crash.

just missed the rocks!

david, i can't see anything.

berg:

i had my camera.

i'm taking--

click click click click.

( whooshes )

right into the canyon.

i turn around, and the first

fence just goes flat.

just, shwoop.

man:
it was a stampede,

that's exactly what it was.

branker:
i saw bikers pluck

people out of the sky.

it was right out of a movie,

you know?

reporter:
robert craig knievel

appears to have landed

in the snake river.

evel definitely tried

to get out, but he couldn't.

reporter:

even i am very scared.

pavlovich:

i thought he's gone.

they're not gonna

get to him in time.

he's gonna drown.

tonning:
there was people

running up

looking over the edge,

and linda was scared,

and the boys were scared.

robbie knievel:

i thought my dad was dead.

i was screaming, crying.

saltman:
i got into

my helicopter,

got over the canyon,

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