But there wasn't any gas on the ground because they ran out of gas.". The fuselage turned sideways, and everybody was hurled forward.. The rest of the group had no idea at the time that they would never see the face of Ronnie again. Photo: Pinterest. Drummer Artimus Pyle crawled out of the plane wreckage with several broken ribs, but was ambulatory, as were road crew members Kenneth Peden Jr. and Mark Frank. The only thing left was a trail of debris and people. Contributing to the fuel exhaustion were inadequate flight planning and an engine malfunction of undetermined nature in the right engine which resulted in higher-than-normal fuel consumption." 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. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. In 1975, his sister, Cassie, whose group had been hired to sing back. The three injured men hiked some distance from the crash site, through swampy woods, and finally flagged down farmer Johnny Mote, who had come to investigate. "Sweet Home Alabama" became the southern anthem for millions. Rossington recalls saying It was always weird for Allen and me because we were up front in the plane. 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. Ronnie Van Zant, drunk and laying in the middle of the aisle, simply pulled himself together, sat up, and quietly chose a seat up front. Pyle, Frank, and Peden were met with hostility when they finally came up to Mote. That farm belonged to a young dairy farmer named Johnny Mote. Allen Collins, another guitar player for the group, had cracked two vertebrae, and the cut to his right arm was so severe, that it almost required amputation. There are just too few physical landmarks. Losing daylight, the pilots desperately looked for an open field or some kind of saving grace. "He didn't want to talk about it for years.". Lynyrd Skynyrd stops for a shot in 1973. Ben Gabel, of Denham Springs, is a former surveyor, and navigated to the scene from the official NTSB report, which includes the latitude and longitude. When the group asked Ronnies father how he was, he simply replied Hes fine. In 1977, lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Stevie Gaines and Gaines' sister, Cassie Gaines, were killed in a plane crash. On October 20, 1977, Cassie Gaines died of non-communicable disease. McDaniel was eager to join me. Almost four decades later, I noticed a seemingly innocuous post on Facebook. There have been several different theories as to the culprits of this unfortunate crashing that point the finger toward watcher by Artimus, as well as the pilots of the plane themselves. He was only 39, but was no rookie. It Crashed, Killing 3 Members, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Drinking, Fighting, Hell-Raising: The Classic Skynyrd Lineup In Pittsburgh, Associate Press Mississippi Road Signs For Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash Site, Hollywood Reporter Appeals Court Reverses Ban on Lynyrd Skynyrd Movie, Ronnie Van Zant Of Lynyrd Skynyrd Predicted His Own Death, Groove History, 1977 Missippi Convair CV-240 Plane Crash, Wikipedia, History Collection The Deadliest Plane Crash in Canada Killed 248 Soldiers in 1985, History Collection A Plane Crashed into the Empire State Building (1945). Gene Odom had been thrown from the plane and broke his neck, his skin badly burned and one eye blinded by phosphorus from a de-icing flare that had been aboard. Tap into Getty Images' global scale, data-driven insights, and network of more than 340,000 creators to create content exclusively for your brand. Billy Powell would be in the new starting line-up of Lynyrd Skynyrd until his death in 2009. How do they know? Pyle, Frank, and Peden were met with hostility when they finally came up to Mote. Band members Artimus Pyle and Billy Powell entered the cockpit to get an idea of what was happening. Click to reveal The crash killed Ronnie Van Zant, Steve and Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, as well as pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray. Photo: obviousmag.org. Despite this faux pas, Powell has been on good terms with the remaining band members since the incident. Wilkeson cheated death in 1977, surviving a crash of the band's chartered plane. Among them were Lacy Van Zant, Ronnies Father, and .38 Specials Guitarist Dan Barnes. Allen Collins, another guitar player for the group, had cracked two vertebrae, and the cut to his right arm was so severe, that it almost required amputation. All of the seats were ripped from the frame of the plane, landing in the front section of the crash. Van Zant, Steve and Cassie Gaines, Kilpatrick and the pilots were laid in a temporary morgue at a local high school gymnasium. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. The tail section broke off, the cockpit broke off and buckled underneath, then both wings broke off. Check your inbox to be the first to know the hottest news. The death of Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gains of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd was a massive blow to many. "It was a lot wetter that night. Assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, the pilot, and co-pilot Walter McCreary and William Gray also died. For many years, a dozen red roses have been carefully placed around the base, much like the mysterious unfinished bottle of Martell cognac at the grave of Edgar Allen Poe in Baltimore. He was known as Papa Ronnie. Ultimate Classic Rock What Happened to the Survivors of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash? 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. Lynyrd Skynyrd is a FANDOM Music Community. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. ", "There were plenty of old boys standing around here. I told him that it was the strongest thing I had seen a man do.. The Vintage News Aerosmith Said No, Lynyrd Skynyrd Said Yes To The Plane. These combinations of poorly built aircraft and less than acceptable crew quickly led to the dismissal of the band leasing out their services. As he looked around the scene, his mind went back. Gary Rossington, one of the bands guitar players, had suffered two broken arms, a broken leg, a punctured stomach and liver. Mote was putting out square bales of hay for the cattle when he heard what sounded "like a car crash on a gravel road." 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. Mote hopped into his pick-up to get back to his house, told his wife to get back in the house, then proceeded to grab his gun and stand guard. By then, a Coast Guard helicopter was hovering overhead. Mote hopped into his pick-up to get back to his house, told his wife to get back in the house, then proceeded to grab his gun and stand guard. We had to cross a black water slew," he said. Gene Odom, Lynyrd Skynyrds bodyguard, recalls: They took my watch, my wallet, my ring, and my money as I lay bleeding on the ground. Easley knows he wasn't the first on the site, but he was there early. On several occasions, the latter shined through. Sadly, it would end all to soon. Especially Artimus, who had three broken ribs and multiple large cuts. Crying, praying, and counting the dead to see who they would never hug, play music with, and enjoy company with again. Especially Artimus, who had three broken ribs and multiple large cuts. Skip to main content. ", But with no experience he morphed from a dairy farmer to a rescuer. Four of the passengers were killed including bandleader and lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines and assistant tour manager Dean Kilpatrick. Van Zant, Steve and Cassie Gaines, Kilpatrick and the pilots were laid in a temporary morgue at a local high school gymnasium. It would be another hour before I heard the big news. ", "I never cared about flying in an airplane," he said. Artimus Pyle, drummer for the band, stops for a quick picture while en route to the next show. As a member of the Civil Air Patrol on that fateful night, he heard the report of a plane crash over the citizens band radio. You have permission to edit this article. Unfortunately, their plane ran short of fuel. Ronnie Van Zant was just more than the bands main songwriter, frontman, and singer. He had been impaled by a part of the fuselage and it pushed through his body and projected out of his back. The other two members were JoJo Billingsley and Leslie Hawkins. On October 20, 1977, a Convair CV-240 carrying the band between shows from Greenville, South Carolina to Baton Rouge, Louisiana crashed outside of Gillsburg, Mississippi. Steve Gaines was killed instantly upon impact and his sister Cassie Gaines perished as well. But we were both enjoying it. It was there that he struck up a fractured conversation. Pilots Walter McCreary and William Gray were fully aware of a fuel shortage before the flight took off. Through the woods, yet another seeker appeared. I admired his ability to tell gripping stories with his camera, so I began considering a career change. Almost as mysteriously, the full bottle is never seen again. She died from excessive bleeding as her throat had been cut from ear to ear. 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. Pyle claimed in a February 2007 appearance on Howard Stern's Sirius radio program that Mote had shot him; Mote has always denied shooting the drummer. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Tuesday October 20, 2015 marked the 38th anniversary and drew several veterans from the night of the crash. It would also be the first album that guitarist Steve Gaines would be the sole guitar player on. Varying accounts have Mote either firing a warning shot into the air or actually shooting Pyle in the shoulder no report is completely reliable. Other band members were injured, some very seriously. The guys hit the dirt and yelling out with what they had left Hey! He could see the circling helicopter from his back yard. Stinky! The will to carry on was strong, however, Pyle being a US Marine, would live out the phrase Semper Fidelis which means always faithful. I was not there to be a gawker or to get in the way. 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. We always wondered why, you know. The surviving members would grapple with this throughout their days. It is reported that the pilots whose eyes were full of terror, told them to go back to their seats and prepare for impact. All the surrounding land is privately owned and prominently marked with "No Trespassing" signs. He obtained his first guitar at about age 14. Lynyrd Skynyrd did not plan on keeping the plane for long. The years after the crash would be difficult in its own right for surviving members, most of which would experience tragedy and early death themselves. The tail section broke off, the cockpit broke off and buckled underneath, then both wings broke off. I dont know who you think we are but we were on a plane and the plane crashed out there on the other side of that cow pasture. Mote instantly connected the dots to the sound he heard earlier and the men that lay before him. In this video you will see the true story behind the tragic passing of Ronnie Van Zant, Cassie Gaines, Dean Kilpatrick, and Steve Gaines on October 20, 1977. As we walked through the woods, Governor and I agree that nothing looked or felt the same. 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. I used my camera in my work. How did Cassie Gaines get in Lynyrd Skynyrd? The band regularly has different people sit in and play shows with them like Warren Haynes and Dicky Betts. But sadly when he drank, which was quite often, his demeanor and character qualities changed drastically. ", He reached up and pealed the split fuselage back and, with a flashlight, peered into the dark, jumbled mess of bodies. "We didn't know how much gas was on the ground. Mother of Lynyrd Skynyrd members Cassie Gaines and Steve Gaines. Photo: obviousmag.org. As medical personnel triaged the scene, he helped carry the litters of the injured and the dead across the creek to a waiting 4-wheel-drive pickup truck. These things don't happen here. Laying on the ground, still alive for only a moment, to slowly bleed to death. Laying on the ground, still alive for only a moment, to slowly bleed to death. Gary Rossington, one of the bands guitar players, had suffered two broken arms, a broken leg, a punctured stomach and liver. Born Steven Earl Gaines, the son of Cassie Hatfield and Earl Gaines. The album had deeper meaning than most. Marc Frank, a 24-year-old roadie traveling with the band, noticed what seemed to be fuel spewing from the right engine. When he was sober, he was a fair and kind person. I didn't know where this was going. Allen Collins kept moving on, eventually getting together with Gary Rossington to form the Rossington Collins Band. Collins entered the hospital with pneumonia symptoms and was in a coma the last few days, said longtime friend Ann Thompson. Lynyrd Skynyrd reformed in 1987, and has been touring and recording steadily ever since with Johnny Van Zant, brother of the late Ronnie, as lead singer. An old high school friend, Bobby McDaniel, posted a photo and a comment about a name-carved tree from the crash site. He suffered a heart attack while on break from tour. Pyle used the couple's phone to call his wife. The aircraft was destroyed by impact; there was no fire. 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. Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and singer Cassie Gaines were all killed in the crash, and the band stopped performing and recording. Lead vocalist and founding member of the southern rock band, Ronnie Van Zant, also lost his life in the accident. In 1977, lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Stevie Gaines and Gaines sister, Cassie Gaines, were killed in a plane crash. She was born on 9th January 1948 in Missouri, USA. Cassie Gaines cause of death The talented singer met her death at the young age of 29. Ronnie had died instantly upon impact, his head slamming into a tree. Thats when most of the sober members of the band saw that the right propeller was no longer working. On one occasion after a show, he approached Billy Powell who was the bands keyboard player, and punched him so hard in the mouth he knocked his two front teeth out. He hopes to publish in time for the 40th anniversary of the crash. Laying on the ground, still alive for only a moment, to slowly bleed to death. Collins recovered and began performing again, eventually forming the Allen Collins Band. The other band members Collins, Gary Rossington, Wilkeson, Powell, Artimus Pyle, and Hawkins, tour manager Ron Eckerman, and several road crew suffered . Artimus has had many ups and downs since then, several incarcerations, and a huge falling out with Gary. "The first thing I saw was a bloody hand reaching out from the debris. Shining from what seemed to be a small house on a dairy farm. The Convair 240 itself had been inspected by members of Aerosmith's flight crew for possible use in the early summer of 1977, but was rejected because it was felt that neither the plane nor the crew were up to standards. Cassie Gaines was born on January 9, 1948 and died on October 20, 1977. On hearing of the accident, Billingsley was so shaken that some of her hair fell out. Where Did We Find This Stuff? It is a cautionary song about drug abuse that fans believed was aimed at one of the members. I knew I could take photographs if I could get there. Ultimate Classic Rock What Happened to the Survivors of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash? One of the three men was the band's drummer Artimus Pyle, who yelled, "Plane crash." Cassie Gaines Wikipedia; Sponsored Links. Steven Earl Gaines (September 14, 1949 - October 20, 1977) was an American musician. Before joining the music band, she was an original cast member of a school play under Hairspray. When Aerosmith's crew heard of Skynyrd's misfortune, they were shocked, but not necessarily surprised. I'm really not sure anymore," he said. The aircraft crashed in a heavily wooded area during an attempted emergency landing. Rescue vehicles on the ground found no direct path in sight. It was the last flight of Lynyrd Skynyrd: Oct. 20, 1977, the night they . 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. As the small band of brothers grew, the conversation grew lively but stayed reverent. The news was shocking -- a plane crash near my hometown of McComb, Miss. They all died but we didnt. Any debris left on the ground has long been buried. Toxicology tests were also ordered to determine whether there were drugs in his system at the time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Johnny Mote and his ragtag team were first on the crash site. One band member, JoJo Billingsly, was not on the flight. News had spread about the crash and before too long an estimated 3,000 people had swarmed to the crash site. He lifted one after another and shuffled them to others outside. As the three marched on, feet soaking wet from the water, all odds seemed stacked against the trio. Turns out that Cassie didn't want to board that particular flight and had blatantly refused to travel on that plane. Everyone was afraid of riding on this plane. From the commercial hits of Free Bird and Simple Man to less mainstream songs like The Needle And The Spoon and T Is For Texas, Lynyrd Skynyrd and their driving southern sound quickly cut their way to the top of the charts and into the hearts of many across the states and around the world. "I saw the blond hair," he said. He says he first came in the 80s after he graduated. Violent, wild, and belligerent, Ronnie was a force to be reckoned with. Laying on the ground, still alive for only a moment, to slowly bleed to death. I marked my calendar and made arrangements. TBS - Movies for Guys Who Like Movies Bumper - The Jerk - 1996, TBS - Dinner & A Movie - Urban Cowboy Promo - 1995, TBS - Movies for Guys Who Like Movies - Running Scared Promo - 1995. The crash killed singer/songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray. The pilots tried an emergency landing, but the plane crashed in the woods near Gillsburg in Mississippi. The next morning I looked over them, made a few small prints and forgot about them. 1 on iTunes Charts, 36 songs, no apologies: Morgan Wallen delivers more (much more) of what made him countrys king, David Lindley, guitarist best known for work with Jackson Browne, dies at 78, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Look up: The 32 most spectacular ceilings in Los Angeles, Winter storms ease drought conditions in California, report shows, 19 cafes that make L.A. a world-class coffee destination, Best coffee city in the world? Mike Rounsaville also arrived in the jeep with Dr. Lewis. His only help at that moment was his neighbor, Dwain Easley. . Rock Musician. He could hear the people moaning, pleading for help. He had been impaled by a part of the fuselage and it pushed through his body and projected out of his back. Cassie was buried in Orange Park, Florida, together with her brother, Steve Gains. He was a walking treasure trove of names, facts and figures. Suffocating the people on the bottom from the sheer weight. The medical examiner reported that Wilkeson suffered from liver and lung disease at the time of his death. Performance & security by Cloudflare. The tour is scheduled to run through mid-September. They were directing him to the property next to his family's farm. He would eventually succumb to paralytic pneumonia while being treated in a hospital in 1990. Don't look like they can afford a ticket. A costly mistake at 9,000ft or so. One of them being completely decapitated. "They seemed to be chasing him, trying to flag him down. The reason is that just a few short days before some of the band members had reported seeing sparks a large as 10ft shooting out of the right engine. This year there were no red roses, but a freshly carved "R.J." stood out with red paint enhancement. The whole scene tore him apart. Headline from a local newspaper reporting the crash. The site has drawn visitors over the years. Lynyrd Skynyrd stops for a shot in 1973. It would take hours to remove the bodies of the dead and injured from the plane. As the bulletins continued, they became more descriptive: "Tractors were pulling ambulances across a creek" was one exaggerated quote I remember so well. Medical personnel arrived and began to ferry out the injured and the dead. (Photo by Ted Jackson). After claiming his deceased son, Lacy Van Zant went to visit the other members of the band at the hospital. It wasn't a Cessna; it was a Convair CV 240, a twin engine, 40-passenger plane that was down in heavy woods near Gillsburg. Artimus Pyle was also notoriously outspoken against the plane and on several occasions would take buses to shows. We beat patterns into our dashboards drumming out the beat. The 22-year-old had been outside bailing hay in the twilight when he heard the crash in the distance, which he assumed was a car skidding in gravel. But after seeing helicopter searchlights, he started to assume it was a jailbreak instead. Bianca is a force to be reckoned with in the American film industry. Artimus Pyle once said they were flying in a plane that he believed belonged to the Clampett family (they were the family from the Beverly Hillbillies, a family notorious for using pieced together equipment.). He later caused a controversy by giving a lurid account of Cassie Gaines' final moments on a VH1 Behind The Music special about the band, claiming that the backing singer's throat was cut from ear to ear and that she bled to death in his arms. There is some speculation as to why the second engine had ultimately failed. For members Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, the weight of what happened seemed to push down on them the most. Three crew members died in a plane crash just three days after the release of their 5th album. The band would be marked for strife as just before their inaugural tour, Allens wife would bleed to death due to a miscarriage. He had already finished a film about the plane crash when Gary and several others stepped in and placed a lawsuit against the film to not be shown to the public. Soon after the plane would begin to jerk and shake violently. We always wondered why, you know. The surviving members would grapple with this throughout their days.