DeLonge would reunite with Blink-182 near the end of 2008 . At this time , Barker had recently survived a private plane crash , in which four others were killed . DeLonge 's realization of Barker 's near death incident was the catalyst for DeLonge desire to be included in the band 's reformation . 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 ' " . DeLonge was the first to approach the subject of reuniting , and Blink-182 announced their reunion , a new album , and a reunion tour in February 2009 at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards . Blink-182 embarked on a reunion tour of North America from July to October 2009 , supported by Weezer and Fall Out Boy . The tour was successful , selling out amphitheaters nationwide : " I was completely blown away and dumbfounded by how big that reunion tour was . ... We were very fortunate , very blessed " , DeLonge later said . " And truthfully , that 's why we continued , because we were so blown away . We were like , " Wow , we got to suck this up and start acting like adults because this is beautiful ' "
plane crash
2008 South Carolina Learjet 60 crash
Tom DeLonge