Losing daylight, the pilots desperately looked for an open field or some kind of saving grace. "It was the saddest thing," she recalls, 11 years later. read another typical message of mourning. The medical examiner reported that Wilkeson suffered from liver and lung disease at the time of his death. Without wanting to cause alarm he thought to himself that maybe the pilots were trying to transfer fuel from one engine to another. Deceased people hanging from trees, the other survivors moaning for help of any kind, and completely surrounded by a black swamp whose canopy is blocking the only light that is trying so desperately to shine through. Without wanting to cause alarm he thought to himself that maybe the pilots were trying to transfer fuel from one engine to another. Totaled, decimated, and left for dead. A costly mistake at 9,000ft or so. It was Dr. Hank Lewis, a month shy of 78-years-old. I was not there to be a gawker or to get in the way. The singer died in the arms of the surviving band's keyboardist Billy Powell. Marc Frank was beaten terribly and was also covered in lacerations and blood. Lynyrd Skynyrd is a staple on rock, classic rock, and southern radio stations. At the end of the day, Ronnie and the boys are gone and we lost a rock n roll angel on October 20, 1977. It was rumored that it was Ed Kings (original guitar player for Lynyrd Skynyrd) wife but it was not confirmed. Don't look like they can afford a ticket. I obviously didn't know what I was doing. I would like to think that only one grave robber was involved, but so many items were missing that I have to believe otherwise. It was as if they were back in Noahs time and all but a select few were stricken with greed of mankind and the chance to capitalize on an easy opportunity. Van Zant, Steve and Cassie Gaines, Kilpatrick and the pilots were laid in a temporary morgue at a local high school gymnasium. Here Are Our Sources: Remembering Lynyrd Skynyrds Deadly 1977 Plane Crash, Jordan Runtagh, The Rolling Stones, What Happened To The Surviving Members Of The Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash?, Micheal Cristopher, Ultimate Classic Rock.com, Falling Free Bird: The Truth About The Infamous Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash Is Stranger Than Fiction, Phil Gibbons, Ranker.com, The Joplin Globe Steve and Cassie Gaines to be inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. At the time of her death, she was 29 years old. Gabel says he's been to the site 15 or more times. When he was sober, he was a fair and kind person. Dwain Easley still lives on the east side of the crash site. Band members Artimus Pyle and Billy Powell entered the cockpit to get an idea of what was happening. A little after the two-hour mark, however, events started to unfold that would soon make history. These combinations of poorly built aircraft and less than acceptable crew quickly led to the dismissal of the band leasing out their services. The plane finally slammed into the earth, and Billy Powell recalls saying, We hit the trees at approximately 90 mph. Most of the 20 survivors were taken to Southwest Regional Medical Center in McComb, where the lobby had been transformed into a makeshift emergency treatment center to quickly deal with the onslaught of plane crash victims. The famous music band Lynyrd Skynyrd is considered to have one of the most gruesome band histories after losing several people in an aerial accident. Steve Gaines was killed instantly upon impact and his sister Cassie Gaines perished as well. Soon after the plane would begin to jerk and shake violently. to gather a few more. The Vintage News Aerosmith Said No, Lynyrd Skynyrd Said Yes To The Plane. Ronnie Van Zant was just more than the bands main songwriter, frontman, and singer. "New Orleans is a southern city. On another occasion, while reportedly on a drunken rage, he even slashed the hands of Gary Rossington, his best friend and guitarist, with a broken beer bottle. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. . "I was well prepared with advanced trauma life support training," he said, "and (I was) a flight surgeon in the military. Leon Wilkeson and Billy Powell would both go on to pursue other musical ventures and both have a hand in several Lynyrd Skynyrd re-boots. Her mother passed away on 15th February 1979 in a car accident. My younger brother and I banged out "Freebird" on a cheap set of drums in our bedroom. But we were both enjoying it. Both pilots were lost in the crash as well, however, a decent amount of fans seek the closure of their conviction of attempted manslaughter, even in death. Some were screaming and moaning for help, but they were all limp. She was hesitant because she had seen a small fire in one of the engines the previous day. On 20th October 1977, the Lynyrd Skynyrd boarded a chartered Convair CV-240 to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after their performance in Greenville, South Carolina. Billy Powell, the bands keyboardist, received extensive facial lacerations and a broken right knee. One of them being completely decapitated. It was Steve, and me, and Ronnie and I was in the middle of them. Gary Rossington, one of the bands guitar players, had suffered two broken arms, a broken leg, a punctured stomach and liver. In 1982 he would form the Allen Collins band but shortly after would wreck his new Ford Thunderbird, killing his then girlfriend and paralyzing Collins. The sky is the limit for the talented actress. His first impression was, "What is a bunch of hippies doing on an airplane? Leon Wilkeson, their bass player, had arguably the most harrowing recovery; as he faced many internal injuries, dislodged teeth, and a broken left arm and leg, and his heart stopped twice on the operating table while doctors frantically struggled to keep him alive. "The first thing I saw was a bloody hand reaching out from the debris. So, we're both southerners.". In addition to his fractured ribcage, Artimus Pyle was treated for numerous abrasions and contusions. Wilkeson would eventually be found dead in a hotel room in 2001 at age 49. On October 20, 1977, they would board a flight bound for Louisiana that would crash in Gillsberg, Missippi and claim the lives of band members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, along with Pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray. "I had expertise on what to do and growing up in Amite County, Mississippi didn't hurt. They were scheduled to perform at the Louisiana State University. A Convair CV-240. Violent, wild, and belligerent, Ronnie was a force to be reckoned with. Powells nose had been nearly ripped from his face after crashing head first through a table. In addition to his fractured ribcage, Artimus Pyle was treated for numerous abrasions and contusions. Cause of death: Car accident. Gene Odom, Lynyrd Skynyrds bodyguard, recalls: They took my watch, my wallet, my ring, and my money as I lay bleeding on the ground. And the hardest-working rock 'n' roll band in America was about to run out of gas. Almost four decades later, I noticed a seemingly innocuous post on Facebook. Lynyrd Skynyrd disbanded after the airplane tragedy. On hearing of the accident, Billingsley was so shaken that some of her hair fell out. The pilots tried an emergency landing, but the plane crashed in the woods near Gillsburg in Mississippi. Willing to lend a hand and stick by his bandmates, he was hard to beat when standing by your side. We knew every word. His luck, however, was on the short end of the stick as he would have his throat slit while on the Lynyrd Skynyrd tour bus in the early 90s. Guitarists Allen Collins and Steve Gaines, Honkette Leslie Hawkins, bassist Leon Wilkeson, Honkettes Cassie Gaines and JoJo Billingsley, and. Also Known As: Cassie LaRue Gaines Died At Age: 29 Family: mother: Cassie LaRue Gaines Died Young Rock Singers Died on: October 20, 1977 place of death: Gillsburg, Mississippi, United States U.S. State: Oklahoma Cause of Death: Plane Crash Recommended Lists: American Celebrities Film & Theater Personalities American Women Women Singers Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Dean Kilpatrick, the bands manager, lay dead and covered in blood. Cassie Gaines, Steve Gainess sister who were both bound for death in the crash, would routinely ride on the equipment bus rather than the plane. The band would be marked for strife as just before their inaugural tour, Allens wife would bleed to death due to a miscarriage. At the beginning of the flight, all was well, amid high tensions. "They'd busted bales of hay in the bed to soften the ride," he said. We always wondered why, you know. The surviving members would grapple with this throughout their days. Powell also claimed that Ronnie Van Zant's head had been smashed. ", He reached up and pealed the split fuselage back and, with a flashlight, peered into the dark, jumbled mess of bodies. Suffocating the people on the bottom from the sheer weight. Unfortunately, their plane ran short of fuel. A costly mistake at 9,000ft or so. Yen.com.gh shared an interesting piece on Bianca Lawson age, parents, husband, kids, net worth, and movies. He didn't know who the victims were. Rescue vehicles on the ground found no direct path in sight. Obviously it is hard to dictate the correct story when various opinions and recollections are thrown out, however, it seems to us as though the pilots were aware of the faulty issues of the plane, did not check to make sure that the plane had enough gas, and did not seem to make an attempt to alert the passengers of their timely death. I worked the scene for about 30 minutes before a veteran photographer approached me and asked if I knew where the local paper "The Enterprise Journal" was located. Ronnie had died instantly upon impact, his head slamming into a tree. Collins began his rise to success as the lightning-fingered guitarist for the Jacksonville band formed in 1966 by a group of high school students. There is some speculation as to why the second engine had ultimately failed. It is reported that the pilots whose eyes were full of terror, told them to go back to their seats and prepare for impact. That now legendary and near-mythical plane crash killed Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, Honkettes backup singer Cassie Gaines, assistant tour manager Dean Kilpatrick and the pilot and co-p Last of the two surviving original member of the band, Gary Rossington, with Johnny Van Zant to his left and guitarist Rickey Medlocke to the right. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Allen's wife would bleed to death due to a miscarriage. Tremendous physical pain overwhelmed the group as did mental exhaustion. But one thing I'm proud of. 2023 Getty Images. Even long after she is gone, her legacy as one of the most talented singers remains. Laying on the ground, still alive for only a moment, to slowly bleed to death. A towering beech tree stands sentinel on the west side of the creek, carefully carved with scores of knurled epithets. He was known as Papa Ronnie. The two men, for a while, were the only able-bodied persons present to help pull people from the wreckage. When the group asked Ronnies father how he was, he simply replied Hes fine. We beat patterns into our dashboards drumming out the beat. His only help at that moment was his neighbor, Dwain Easley. Van Zant, Steve and Cassie Gaines, Kilpatrick and the pilots were laid in a temporary morgue at a local high school gymnasium. "Live on my brother. The cover would quickly be changed to a more bland blacked-out background with the band in the same pose after the accident. We just had released an album that went gold almost overnight. Born Steven Earl Gaines, the son of Cassie Hatfield and Earl Gaines. Artimus Pyle emerged with several broken ribs, and bleeding everywhere you could. Photo: Pinterest. So we came out here and got busy. A little after the two-hour mark, however, events started to unfold that would soon make history. The flight was going good so far and other than Ronnie getting severely intoxicated while on the flight, all seemed to be setting up to be another routine flight. I'm really not sure anymore," he said. The next morning I looked over them, made a few small prints and forgot about them. She said her husband grabbed his .243 hunting rifle, ran out and fired a warning shot. Over the weekend, the message boards on the official Web site were flooded with messages of lament for the "living legend," "free bird," and simple man.". She performed as a backup singer in popular hits such as One More Time and That Smell. Marc Frank remembers seeing complete and total despair. Another 20 were injured, which included keyboardist Billy Powell, guitarists Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, drummer Artimus Pyle and bassist Leon Wilkeson. Crying, praying, and counting the dead to see who they would never hug, play music with, and enjoy company with again. The single "What's Your Name" reached #13 on the single airplay charts in January of 1978. Especially Artimus, who had three broken ribs and multiple large cuts. "Are you writing a book?" Governor said, "I'm bad about leaving an empty beer bottle and a full one for Ronnie and the boys" each year. Birth Name: Cassie LaRue Gaines Occupation: Rock Singer Place Of Birth: Missouri Date Of Birth: January 9, 1948 Date Of Death: October 20, 1977 Cause Of Death: N/A Ethnicity: White Nationality: American Cassie Gaines was born on the 9th of January, 1948. Both brother and sister were killed in the airplane crash that also took the life of Lynyrd Skynyrd vocalist Ronnie Van Zant. How did Cassie Gaines get in Lynyrd Skynyrd? Cassie Gaines Wikipedia; Sponsored Links. The band buckled in. He rushed to his truck and headed in. Artimus Pyle and Gary Rossington are the only two members alive today from the crash. Most of the 20 survivors were taken to Southwest Regional Medical Center in McComb, where the lobby had been transformed into a makeshift emergency treatment center to quickly deal with the onslaught of plane crash victims. Updated cover after plane crash, 1977The official NTSB accident report reads, "The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of this accident was fuel exhaustion and total loss of power from both engines due to crew inattention to fuel supply. Johnny Mote and his ragtag team were first on the crash site. You all just better get some rest. Dan Barnes recalls saying This man had just been to the funeral home and seen his son dead and decided to keep that to himself for these guys to heal. He could see the circling helicopter from his back yard. Thats when most of the sober members of the band saw that the right propeller was no longer working. At the time of her death she survived by her large extended friends and family. I threw it in reverse and plowed into my mother-in-law's car. It was the last flight of Lynyrd Skynyrd: Oct. 20, 1977, the night they . The fuselage turned sideways, and everybody was hurled forward.. I knew I had no business going, and my wife told me so. Freebird, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 10/20/77 and a notebook-sized rebel flag are deeply etched into the old bark. But I couldn't stand it any longer. My college roommate was a young photojournalist. By then, a Coast Guard helicopter was hovering overhead. The pilots were still in their seats, but were laying upside down in nearby trees. The pilots were still in their seats, but were laying upside down in nearby trees. Performance & security by Cloudflare. With the tree tops approaching fast and just eight miles short of the air strip, the plane was headed for a Mississippi swamp and nothing could be done to save them now. The cockpit, tail, and wings completely ripped apart and the remaining cab lay desolate, in the shape of an L. The plane was simply not built well enough to even remotely handle the impact from the pine trees at roughly 90 mph. The news was shocking -- a plane crash near my hometown of McComb, Miss. After the death of three of their members, the band decided to change the cover photo of the album, which initially featured a picture of the band engulfed in flames. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Pianist Billy Powell survived, but his nose was nearly torn off and he suffered severe facial lacerations. Several members of the band died in a plane crash that occurred on October 20, 1977, three days after the release of Street Survivors. Cassie Gaines Death: and Cause of Death. Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines, along with backup singer Cassie Gaines (Steve's older sister), assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray died. Birthday: January 9, 1948. Ronnie had died instantly upon impact, his head slamming into a tree. Losing daylight, the pilots desperately looked for an open field or some kind of saving grace. Artimus Pyle emerged with several broken ribs, and bleeding everywhere you could. Terror soon engulfed the cabin of the plane and the pilots were frantically trying to radio local Houston Air Traffic Control, stating they had a fuel issue and were most likely going to have to make a emergency landing. Allen Collins kept moving on, eventually getting together with Gary Rossington to form the Rossington Collins Band. Contributing to the fuel exhaustion were inadequate flight planning and an engine malfunction of undetermined nature in the engine which resulted in higher than normal fuel consumption.". On the original pressing of the cover of Street Survivors was a photograph of the band engulfed in flames. There were 24 passengers and two crew members aboard the aircraft. As he looked around the scene, his mind went back. A Convair CV-240, similar to the one in the crash. The band decided that once they had landed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, they would acquire a Learjet to replace the severely outdated 30-year-old plane. He obtained his first guitar at about age 14. Skip to main content. The pilot and co-pilot also died; 20 others aboard lived. Lynyrd Skynyrd stops for a shot in 1973. [2] There is some speculation as to why the second engine had ultimately failed. In an interview in the book Walk This Way, Aerosmith's assistant chief of flight operations Zunk Buker tells of seeing pilots McCreary and Gray trading a bottle of Jack Daniels back and forth while Buker and his father were inspecting the plane. The original cover was restored after the 30th anniversary of the album. Rescue vehicles on the ground found no direct path in sight. The band regularly has different people sit in and play shows with them like Warren Haynes and Dicky Betts. His wife, Lola, and my wife grew up together. Collins and other band members were severely injured. According to an interview in the book Freebirds, Billingsley had dreamed of the plane crash and begged Allen Collins by telephone not to continue using the Convair. Photo: hu.wikipedia.com. Almost as mysteriously, the full bottle is never seen again. The rest of the group had no idea at the time that they would never see the face of Ronnie again. In 1975, his sister, Cassie, whose group had been hired to sing back. Marc Frank remembers seeing complete and total despair. Photo: obviousmag.org. Photo: Uncle Johns Bathroom Reader. She is famous for starring in Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Goode Behavior, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. I marked my calendar and made arrangements. But sadly when he drank, which was quite often, his demeanor and character qualities changed drastically.