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. Photo: Pinterest. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. On hearing of the accident, Billingsley was so shaken that some of her hair fell out. A plane crash left lead singer Ronnie Van Zandt, lead guitarist Steve Gaines and backup singer Cassie Gaines dead. Even though she survived the actual crash, she eventually bled to death before the rescue team could reach her. The official cause of death will be announced after toxicology test results come back in two to three weeks. I'm still not sure why. All reality had been broken and none of the surviving members would ever be the same or view life the same again. On 20th October 1977, the Lynyrd Skynyrd boarded a chartered Convair CV-240 to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after their performance in Greenville, South Carolina. Artimus Pyle, drummer for the band, stops for a quick picture while en route to the next show. In Genes interview, he mentions that he ran to the cock pit and to alert the pilots of the exploded engine and their response was Nothins wrong. One band member, JoJo Billingsly, was not on the flight. At this point, for Artimus Pyle, Marc Frank, and Ken Peden, the only sensible thing left to do was to leave certain death at the crash site, for uncertainty in the swamp. She performed as a backup singer in popular hits such as One More Time and That Smell. Her brother was Skynyrd guitarist Steve Gaines. Marc Frank, a 24-year-old roadie traveling with the band, noticed what seemed to be fuel spewing from the right engine. Pyle, Frank, and Peden were met with hostility when they finally came up to Mote. Billy Powell, the bands keyboardist, received extensive facial lacerations and a broken right knee. Where Did We Find This Stuff? One of them being completely decapitated. Members of the band that survived the crash said that Cassie actually . 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. The singer died in the arms of the surviving band's keyboardist Billy Powell. David Bowie Reveals His Favorite Songwriters, Michael Jacksons Daughter Release New Song, Fans Wants To Cancel Roger Waters Concerts, Ozzy Osbourne Give Update On Possible Touring, Why Keith Richards Was Jealous Of The Beatles, Dave Grohl Reveals His Favorite Paul McCartney Track. Other band members were injured, some very seriously. Road crew member Steve Lawler, who suffered severe contusions and facial lacerations, was taken to the hospital in a pickup with a camper top. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Rossington recalls saying It was always weird for Allen and me because we were up front in the plane. Steve Gaines was killed instantly upon impact and his sister Cassie Gaines perished as well. Dean Kilpatrick, the bands manager, lay dead and covered in blood. But soon, the helicopters that were heard and seen previously were on the scene. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. Band confidant, Gene Odum, is privately interviewed to share his story on what happened on this awful day in history. But sadly when he drank, which was quite often, his demeanor and character qualities changed drastically. "New Orleans is a southern city. Rossington recalls saying It was always weird for Allen and me because we were up front in the plane. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. When the group asked Ronnies father how he was, he simply replied Hes fine. 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. In the ensuing chaos, souvenir hunters took billfolds, jewelry, suitcases, band merchandise and even chunks of metal from the crash site. There are just too few physical landmarks. A Convair CV-240, similar to the one in the crash. Billy Powell would be in the new starting line-up of Lynyrd Skynyrd until his death in 2009. 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. As he looked around the scene, his mind went back. She was sick and would meet up with the band in Arkansas to continue the tour. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. According to the bands autobiography, Zunk Buker, Aerosmiths chief of flight operations manager, was inspecting the plane and the crew before they pulled the trigger. The band would be marked for strife as just before their inaugural tour, Allens wife would bleed to death due to a miscarriage. 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. Wilkeson would play in both Rossington Collins Band and the Allen Collins band. Natural causes were to blame. The band has asked that fans wishing to remember Wilkeson do so through the Musician's Assistance Program, which assists musicians and industry professionals seeking treatment for addiction. The guys hit the dirt and yelling out with what they had left Hey! Identification was completely hindered as there had been a poker game going on during the flight, and everyones wallets and purses had been strewn throughout the swamp. He had known Easley Creek since his youth. Musician. Marc Frank, a 24-year-old roadie traveling with the band, noticed what seemed to be fuel spewing from the right engine. If a band couldn't play Skynyrd, they didn't get hired for the school dance. A tragic scene no person would ever wish to see or soon forget. A towering beech tree stands sentinel on the west side of the creek, carefully carved with scores of knurled epithets. 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. read another typical message of mourning. 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. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? 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. Gary continues on the band with Ronnies brother, Johnny Van Zant, and guitarist Ricky Medlocke. The band had just released their biggest album to date and was riding off of a good high. Cassie Gaines Wikipedia; Sponsored Links. He is best known as a guitarist and backing vocalist with rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1976 until his death in the October 1977 airplane crash that claimed other band members and crew. Easley knows he wasn't the first on the site, but he was there early. Johnny Mote and his ragtag team were first on the crash site. Wilkeson would eventually be found dead in a hotel room in 2001 at age 49. Two of them were crew members, pilot Walter McReary and co-pilot William Gray, the rest were band members and roadies. The band enjoyed national fame in the 1970s with such hits as Gimme Three Steps and Sweet Home Alabama.. Part of the preparations required contacting landowners and securing permission to be there and a guide to lead me in. The talented singer met her death at the young age of 29. A Convair CV-240. 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. Artimus Pyle and Gary Rossington are the only two members alive today from the crash. We'd move one and there would be another one laying there." As we walked through the woods, Governor and I agree that nothing looked or felt the same. Especially Artimus, who had three broken ribs and multiple large cuts. Minutes later he was guiding an ambulance through an overgrown trail. Some blame it on the planes age and poor design, weighing in on its smaller fuselage and compact wingspan. Brenda Martin, 17 at the time, lived with her husband, Johnny Mote (now divorced) in their mobile home on the north side of the crash site. The reason behind this? Get the news that matters from one of the leading news sites in Ghana, UN development chief sounds alarm over debt distress, Texas: Wind and solar stake claim to land of oil, Couple loses GH 300,000 on their wedding after guests don't show up: "So heartbroken", "Rest Well": Thomas Partey pays tribute to Christian Atsu as she scores in Arsenal's 3-2 win over Bournemouth, Hard guy dey cry: Sulley Muntari sheds tears at Christian Atsu's 1-week observance, Richard Kingston consoles him in sad video, 150+ Sad messages: ideas to express your deepest feelings in 2022, What happened to Jade Castrinos after Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, List of American foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner that you will love, 80+ Juice WRLD's quotes and lyrics about love, life, success and heartbreak. Artimus Pyle was also notoriously outspoken against the plane and on several occasions would take buses to shows. Powells nose had been nearly ripped from his face after crashing head first through a table. The band leased a new Convair CV-240 to help them get between shows easier. She began her career at a young age but has grown steadily over the years to become one of the best in Hollywood. Original cover for Street Survivors, 1977Notably, the third member of The Honkettes, JoJo Billingsley, was not on the plane and in fact was home tending to a family member's illness. There were 24 passengers and two crew members aboard the aircraft. 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. It was Steve, and me, and Ronnie and I was in the middle of them. Photo credits Airplane-Pictures.net. 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. He was only 39, but was no rookie. Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and singer Cassie Gaines were all killed in the crash, and the . The pilots would have to make an emergency landing. It was rumored that it was Ed Kings (original guitar player for Lynyrd Skynyrd) wife but it was not confirmed. "Are you writing a book?" Pyle maintains in the Howard Stern interview that the fuel gauge in the older model plane malfunctioned and the pilots had failed to manually check the tanks before taking off. 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. 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. Rescue vehicles on the ground found no direct path in sight. After a shorter-than-normal day of bow hunting, he received a phone call about a plane crash in the area. We had to cross a black water slew," he said. And to Brenda's point, he's writing a book. Medical personnel arrived and began to ferry out the injured and the dead. Small and cramped, it still felt better than lift-off of the Convair CV-240. Tangled by underbrush and the 20-foot creek, the rescue team had to act and think fast. It is reported that the pilots whose eyes were full of terror, told them to go back to their seats and prepare for impact. There have been several different theories as to the culprits of this . "If (that tree) could talk, it'd tell you all about it," he said. Losing daylight, the pilots desperately looked for an open field or some kind of saving grace. Cause of death: Car accident. In the ensuing chaos, souvenir hunters took billfolds, jewelry, suitcases, band merchandise and even chunks of metal from the crash site. 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. However, it is believed that the pilots were trying to transfer oil from one engine to another when they accidentally jettisoned the fuel instead. At the end of the day, Ronnie and the boys are gone and we lost a rock n roll angel on October 20, 1977. Steven Earl Gaines (September 14, 1949 - October 20, 1977) was an American musician. Gary continues on the band with Ronnies brother, Johnny Van Zant, and guitarist Ricky Medlocke. It was rumored that it was Ed Kings (original guitar player for Lynyrd Skynyrd) wife but it was not confirmed. Lewis was on emergency room call that night at McComb's Southwest Regional Medical Center. Rescue vehicles on the ground found no direct path in sight. Ronnie Van Zant enjoying a stog before a show. As soon as it seemed that the worst of the flight was passing, the true nightmare was about to set in for Lynyrd Skynyrd and the crew aboard. He could hear the people moaning, pleading for help. The tour is scheduled to run through mid-September. Cassie Gaines Death: and Cause of Death. When he was sober, he was a fair and kind person. The whole scene tore him apart. A design that would most likely lead to the infamous crash. 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). The location sounded familiar so he asked them to repeat. I had never seen anything like it before. In 1977, lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Stevie Gaines and Gaines sister, Cassie Gaines, were killed in a plane crash. Sang background vocals (one of the Honkettes) for Lynyrd Skynyrd. I had not realized before, but he also was there that night. Ronnie had died instantly upon impact, his head slamming into a tree. The whole scene tore him apart. 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. In 1995, while on assignment in Phunket Thailand for the Times-Picayune's series "Oceans of Trouble," I boarded a small fantail fishing boat on the edges of the Andaman Sea with writer John McQuaid to photograph the disappearing mangroves. Cassie Larue Gaines was an American singer. We just had released an album that went gold almost overnight. 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. Photo: Pinterest. Suffocating the people on the bottom from the sheer weight. 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. The aircraft was destroyed by impact; there was no fire. No discernable landmarks remained, save the creek bed. I obviously didn't know what I was doing. On 20th October 1977, the Lynyrd Skynyrd boarded a chartered Convair CV-240 to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after their performance in Greenville, South Carolina. The album would go through several cover changes and would mark a new era for the guys. Headline from a local newspaper reporting the crash. Powell also claimed that Ronnie Van Zant's head had been smashed. As the three marched on, feet soaking wet from the water, all odds seemed stacked against the trio. Band members Artimus Pyle and Billy Powell entered the cockpit to get an idea of what was happening. Varying accounts have Mote either firing a warning shot into the air or actually shooting Pyle in the shoulder no report is completely reliable. It was the last flight of Lynyrd Skynyrd: Oct. 20, 1977, the night they . Billy Powell would be in the new starting line-up of Lynyrd Skynyrd until his death in 2009. He remembered seeing bodies everywhere. News had spread about the crash and before too long an estimated 3,000 people had swarmed to the crash site. The plane had completely disintegrated. 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. Any debris left on the ground has long been buried. Freebird, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 10/20/77 and a notebook-sized rebel flag are deeply etched into the old bark. . So on the prow of this small boat, plowing the coastal water on the other side of the world, he and I abandoned inhibition with an unabashed air guitar jam. 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). The will to carry on was strong, however, Pyle being a US Marine, would live out the phrase Semper Fidelis which means always faithful. He drove down from his home in Oakland, Miss. The reason behind this? He was best known for being a Rock Singer. There were 26 people on that fateful flight. Lynyrd Skynyrd disbanded after the airplane tragedy. Cassie Gaines Lynard Skynyrd plane crash was one of the band's most challenging moments. 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. I've not looked at them since. The site is hard to access. So, with little hesitation I decided I should join the dance. The guys hit the dirt and yelling out with what they had left Hey! 100+ love and trust messages for her to rekindle the passion, 100+ miss you sister quotes, messages, and texts to show your love, EU parliament chief urges Ukraine membership talks this year, UN chief condemns rich countries 'vicious' tactics against poor, Meet Empress Esi the 13-year-old GH girl building schools and giving joy to the needy through her foundation, Christian Atsu's family releases date, venue and other details about his final funeral rites, "Beauty and talent": Gorgeous young lady displays exceptional drumming skills in church, viral video melts hearts, What teams have never been to the super bowl. They were scheduled to perform at the Louisiana State University. Mote fired a warning shot in the air. That farm belonged to a young dairy farmer named Johnny Mote. We were shocked, as were most others hearing the news. It would be another hour before I heard the big news. "They'd busted bales of hay in the bed to soften the ride," he said. Lynyrd Skynyrd stops for a shot in 1973. The accident essentially destroyed one of the unique voices of American rock and roll. Laying on the ground, still alive for only a moment, to slowly bleed to death. ", "I expected to see all dead people looking at these woods. Mike Rounsaville also arrived in the jeep with Dr. Lewis. Martin said she then, "called 911, or 0, or whatever we called back then.". 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. He had been hospitalized since September. Ronnie had died instantly upon impact, his head slamming into a tree. Allen Collins kept moving on, eventually getting together with Gary Rossington to form the Rossington Collins Band. 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. 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. "It was stuff I'd been trained to do," he said. "Seems like everyone is writing a book. Aerosmiths band management at the time was looking at a Convair CV-240. 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." A small plane with 40 seats and two props the plane was anything but extraordinary. Allen Collins suffered two cracked vertebrae in his neck, and both Collins and Leon Wilkeson nearly had arms amputated as a result of crash injuries. His only help at that moment was his neighbor, Dwain Easley. Pyle, Frank, and Peden were met with hostility when they finally came up to Mote. Soon after the plane would begin to jerk and shake violently. 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 band was reaching fever pitch with its fans across the South and the nation. As the small band of brothers grew, the conversation grew lively but stayed reverent. The plane had a thinner fuselage and smaller wingspan than any of its kind at the time. Van Zant himself "loathed flying," as Rolling Stone. The medical examiner reported that Wilkeson suffered from liver and lung disease at the time of his death. Cassie Gaines cause of death The talented singer met her death at the young age of 29. He had been impaled by a part of the fuselage and it pushed through his body and projected out of his back. There were 26 people on that fateful flight. Ronnie Van Zant was just more than the bands main songwriter, frontman, and singer. She died from excessive bleeding as her throat had been cut from ear to ear. By then, a Coast Guard helicopter was hovering overhead. So, we're both southerners.". The pilots were still in their seats, but were laying upside down in nearby trees. Steve Gaines was killed instantly upon impact and his sister Cassie Gaines perished as well. With a newly-released album, "Street Survivors," they were flying from a concert in Greenville, S.C. to the next night's show at LSU in Baton Rouge in a substandard charter plane. Her mother passed away on 15th February 1979 in a car accident. This year there were no red roses, but a freshly carved "R.J." stood out with red paint enhancement. Cassie Gaines Birthday and Date of Death. After claiming his deceased son, Lacy Van Zant went to visit the other members of the band at the hospital. The two men, for a while, were the only able-bodied persons present to help pull people from the wreckage. Artimus Pyle emerged with several broken ribs, and bleeding everywhere you could. Allen Collins kept moving on, eventually getting together with Gary Rossington to form the Rossington Collins Band. The album had a very controversial cover when released. Pilots Walter McCreary and William Gray were fully aware of a fuel shortage before the flight took off. 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.). Rudge chartered three planes for loved ones to identify the bodies. Born Steven Earl Gaines, the son of Cassie Hatfield and Earl Gaines. Lynyrd Skynyrd pose for a portrait circa 1976. 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.
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