Travis Barker's horror plane crash forced him to ask himself important question

Travis Barker has revealed how surviving a horrific plane crash left him asking himself an important question about why his life had been spared.

The Blink-182 drummer looks back on the tragedy in the trailer for his upcoming documentary, Travis Barker: Louder Than Fear, which charts his rise through punk rock, struggles with painkillers, and the accident that changed his life.

Barker had already spent years touring with Blink-182 when the 2008 crash happened, killing his assistant Chris ‘Lil Chris’ Baker, bodyguard Charles ‘Che’ Still, the pilot, and the co-pilot. He and Adam ‘DJ AM’ Goldstein survived, but Barker was left with severe burns and faced a gruelling recovery involving numerous operations.

Looking back at the people he lost, Barker reveals the question that stayed with him afterwards: "Why am I here when everyone else isn't?"

(Jeff Bottari/Contributor/Getty Images)

In the trailer, Barker recalls the extent of his injuries, saying: "65% of my body was burnt. 27 surgeries."

He also speaks about the emotional impact of losing people close to him, adding: "Che and Chris were like brothers to me", then emotionally wipes away a tear when recalling the fact that DJ AM passed away a year later from a drug overdose in his New York City apartment.

As the trailer continues, Barker asks himself: "Why am I here when everyone else isn't?"

The experience eventually forced him to think about the person he wanted to become after surviving something so devastating.

He says: "I had to ask myself who I was going to be after this accident"

The documentary also goes further back into Barker's career, including the unlikely circumstances that led to him playing with Blink-182.

Barker recalls: "Mark and Tom come up to me and said, our drummer just left. Would you consider playing? The show starts in an hour.”

His career quickly took off, but the trailer also addresses a period when his drug use had become so severe, he needed extra help for the most surprising things.

Barker says: "I was taking so many pills that I had a security guard whose only job was to watch me sleep and make sure I was breathing. It was all a blur"

Following the crash, however, his priorities shifted towards his family and the life he still had ahead of him.

He explains: "I had this burning desire to become the greatest person and father I could be."

The film also features Barker's wife Kourtney Kardashian and his children Landon, Alabama, and Atiana, with the trailer suggesting his recovery affected the entire family.

Barker closes on just how profoundly surviving the crash changed his outlook.

He says: "Knowing how close I got to not being here, my appreciation for life is something I can't even explain."

Travis Barker: Louder Than Fear premieres August 13 on Hulu and Disney+.