The band members did not speak from their breakup until 2008 . That August , Jerry Finn suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and was taken off life support . On September 19 , Barker and Goldstein were involved in a plane crash that killed four people , leaving the two the only survivors . Barker sustained second and third degree burns and developed posttraumatic stress disorder , and the accident resulted in sixteen surgeries and 48-hour blood transfusions . Hoppus was alerted about Barker 's accident by a phone call in the middle of the night and jumped on the next flight to the burn center . DeLonge found out via the TV news at an airport while waiting to board a flight ; within minutes , he was crying in his seat . " I thought he was going to die , " says DeLonge , who quickly reached out to his former bandmate , mailing him a letter and photograph . " Instantly after the plane crash , I was like , ' Hey , I want to play music with him again . The trio eventually met up in the hospital , laying the grounds for what was going to be the band 's reunion . Eventually , an arrangement was made for the trio to meet up at Hoppus and Barker 's Los Angeles studio in October 2008 . The three opened up , discussing the events of the hiatus and their break-up , and DeLonge was the first to approach the subject of reuniting . Hoppus remembered : " I remember Tom said , ' So , what do you guys think ? Where are your heads at ? ' And I said , ' I think we should continue with what we 've been doing for the past 17 years . I think we should get back on the road and back in the studio and do what we love doing
plane crash
2008 South Carolina Learjet 60 crash
Blink-182