Their lyrics were raw and fresh - honest and simple. 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. Steven Earl Gaines (September 14, 1949 - October 20, 1977) was an American musician. 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. Rescuers look over the wreckage of the 1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash. It sounded great to us. A Convair CV-240, similar to the one in the crash. The band regularly has different people sit in and play shows with them like Warren Haynes and Dicky Betts. 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. 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. He had hunted squirrels along that very ridge. "Are you writing a book?" With the dust settled from a plane crash that would make a small Mississippi town famous, everything that surrounded the few conscious and able survivors were completely horrific and getting darker by the second. We'd move one and there would be another one laying there." Laying on the ground, still alive for only a moment, to slowly bleed to death. "The first thing I saw was a bloody hand reaching out from the debris. 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. 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 pilots would have to make an emergency landing. They all died but we didnt. I can't remember," he said. 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. Almost as mysteriously, the full bottle is never seen again. The album had two notable songs: Whats your name and That Smell. He had known Easley Creek since his youth. Cassie Gaines was one of the band members who boarded the ill-fated flight. Gary Rossington broke both his arms and both his legs in the crash, and took many months to recuperate. Bianca is an American actress. A towering beech tree stands sentinel on the west side of the creek, carefully carved with scores of knurled epithets. His first band recorded its debut at Sun Recording Studio in Memphis, and later bands included RIO Smokehouse and Rusty Day. Wilkeson cheated death in 1977, surviving a crash of the band's chartered plane. He was the New Orleans-based photographer for the Associated Press Jack Thornell, known for his Pulitzer Prize winning photo of civil rights leader James Meredith. Sang background vocals (one of the Honkettes) for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and singer Cassie Gaines were all killed in the crash, and the . ", "And everybody says they were the first one there. Check your inbox to be the first to know the hottest news. 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. At the end of the day, Ronnie and the boys are gone and we lost a rock n roll angel on October 20, 1977. Ronnie Van Zant was just more than the bands main songwriter, frontman, and singer. I grabbed my camera and jumped in the car. The other two members were JoJo Billingsley and Leslie Hawkins. 5 album. We love you!!!" 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. I had a small studio, making a living mostly painting signs for local businesses. The singer was approached by artist JoJo Billingsley, sent by the band's head and lead vocalist, Ronnie Van Zant. 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. He needed to use their darkroom to get his photos out. The tail section broke off, the cockpit broke off and buckled underneath, then both wings broke off. Aerosmiths management passed on the opportunity to call this plane their own. Marc Frank recalled hearing both engines on the plane then within a matter of minutes, just air passing over the cabin. 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. "It was a lot wetter that night. Ronnie had died instantly upon impact, his head slamming into a tree. A little after an hour of trudging through a creek and at one point burrowing underneath a barbed wire fence they found themselves staring at a small, dim light in the distance. Truth be known, after 38 years, Martin is a little tired of talking about the whole thing. Sadly, it would end all to soon. ", "He came home covered in blood," said his wife, Lola. As we talked, we heard a racket through the trees. Artimus Pyle emerged with several broken ribs, and bleeding everywhere you could. He would eventually succumb to paralytic pneumonia while being treated in a hospital in 1990. The aircraft was destroyed by impact; there was no fire. to gather a few more. The official cause of death will be announced after toxicology test results come back in two to three weeks. Ronnie had died instantly upon impact, his head slamming into a tree. Pyle, Frank, and Peden were met with hostility when they finally came up to Mote. "Sweet Home Alabama" became the southern anthem for millions. 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. Photo: Pinterest. With my camera at the ready, the translator and I stood watch on the prow of the brightly colored wooden boat as we plowed the exotic coastline. Rossington recalls saying It was always weird for Allen and me because we were up front in the plane. MCA Records, out of courtesy, withdrew the sleeve and replaced it with a cover of the band striking a similar pose against a plain black background. Photo: thetv.info. Collins, 37, suffered respiratory failure, said a Memorial Medical Center spokeswoman. A tragic scene no person would ever wish to see or soon forget. She said her husband grabbed his .243 hunting rifle, ran out and fired a warning shot. All he could think was that they must be from a recent a jailbreak," she said. Tremendous physical pain overwhelmed the group as did mental exhaustion. If a band couldn't play Skynyrd, they didn't get hired for the school dance. The site is hard to access. For members Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, the weight of what happened seemed to push down on them the most. "May the free bird fly on," read one message. 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. As the three marched on, feet soaking wet from the water, all odds seemed stacked against the trio. The albums that followed featured a plain black background. He suffered a heart attack while on break from tour. Billy Powell would be in the new starting line-up of Lynyrd Skynyrd until his death in 2009. His first impression was, "What is a bunch of hippies doing on an airplane? 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. When the news broke that it was Lynyrd Skynyrd's tour plane, Nancy and I stared at each other. Rossington and keyboardist Billy Powell are now the only founding members in the band. Photo: Pinterest. 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. They were directing him to the property next to his family's farm. Gene Odom, Lynyrd Skynyrds bodyguard, recalls: They took my watch, my wallet, my ring, and my money as I lay bleeding on the ground. 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. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. So, with little hesitation I decided I should join the dance. However, it is believed that the pilots were trying to transfer oil from one engine to another when they accidentally jettisoned the fuel instead. Gary continues on the band with Ronnies brother, Johnny Van Zant, and guitarist Ricky Medlocke. 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. Dwain Easley still lives on the east side of the crash site. "From there, we followed the lights of the helicopter," he said. News had spread about the crash and before too long an estimated 3,000 people had swarmed to the crash site. Artimus has had many ups and downs since then, several incarcerations, and a huge falling out with Gary. A Convair CV-240. I used my camera in my work. Her mother passed away on 15th February 1979 in a car accident. The site has drawn visitors over the years. "They'd busted bales of hay in the bed to soften the ride," he said. But as my wife and I watched the news bulletins flash on TV, it was a big deal. Medical personnel arrived and began to ferry out the injured and the dead. Everyone was afraid of riding on this plane. Two bulldozers were dispatched to plow a primitive path off nearby Highway 568 in order to give a ground path available to the first responders. However, they were apparently talked into using it just one more time which happened to be their last ride. It would also be the first album that guitarist Steve Gaines would be the sole guitar player on. Easley knows he wasn't the first on the site, but he was there early. 2023 Getty Images. read another typical message of mourning. 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. Your IP: Marc Frank was beaten terribly and was also covered in lacerations and blood. Crying, praying, and counting the dead to see who they would never hug, play music with, and enjoy company with again. Turns out that Cassie didn't want to board that particular flight and had blatantly refused to travel on that plane. 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. Tremendous physical pain overwhelmed the group as did mental exhaustion. And to Brenda's point, he's writing a book. The official report of the crash read: "The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determines that the probable cause of this accident was fuel exhaustion and total loss of power from both engines due to crew inattention to the fuel supply. A Convair CV-240, similar to the one in the crash. 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. "They stopped, straight back there," he said, and pointed to the tree line a quarter mile across open hay fields and woods. Another 20 were injured, which included keyboardist Billy Powell, guitarists Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, drummer Artimus Pyle and bassist Leon Wilkeson. We beat patterns into our dashboards drumming out the beat. His wife, Lola, and my wife grew up together. 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. Posted and no trespassing signs are prominently displayed. A small plane with 40 seats and two props the plane was anything but extraordinary. 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. Especially Artimus, who had three broken ribs and multiple large cuts. Rudge chartered three planes for loved ones to identify the bodies. 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. Other band members were injured, some very seriously. 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. One of the three men was the band's drummer Artimus Pyle, who yelled, "Plane crash." She began her career at a young age but has grown steadily over the years to become one of the best in Hollywood. I couldn't stand it. 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. 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. We always wondered why, you know. The surviving members would grapple with this throughout their days. It was known that the right engine's magneto a small power generator that provides spark and timing for the engine had been malfunctioning (Powell, among others, spoke of seeing flames shooting out of the right engine on a trip just prior to the accident), and that pilots McCreary and Gray had intended to repair the damaged part when the travelling party arrived in Baton Rouge. 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. Thats when most of the sober members of the band saw that the right propeller was no longer working. There is some speculation as to why the second engine had ultimately failed. In the ensuing chaos, souvenir hunters took billfolds, jewelry, suitcases, band merchandise and even chunks of metal from the crash site. The pilots were still in their seats, but were laying upside down in nearby trees. Then on the other side, it was Allen in the middle of Dean and Cassie. But one thing I'm proud of. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Laying on the ground, still alive for only a moment, to slowly bleed to death. Marc Frank remembers seeing complete and total despair. He then assembled a convoy of trucks and four-wheelers to locate the crash site and rescue the survivors. He was known as Papa Ronnie. 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. Cassie Gaines, a member of the backing vocal trio known as the Honkettes and sister of guitarist Steve Gaines, was so petrified that she nearly squeezed in the band's cramped equipment truck. Mother of Lynyrd Skynyrd members Cassie Gaines and Steve Gaines. The original cover was restored after the 30th anniversary of the album. Cassie Larue Gaines was an American singer. 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. We just had released an album that went gold almost overnight. Before long, he noticed three men emerge from the dense woods along the pasture. Some of the guys were playing poker. Violent, wild, and belligerent, Ronnie was a force to be reckoned with. The plane killed three band members (Ronnie Van Zant, Cassie, Steve Gaines) and Dean Kilpatrick (assistant road manager), Walter McCreary (pilot), and William Gray (co-pilot). Johnny headed for the crash site to see if he could help. Lewis was on emergency room call that night at McComb's Southwest Regional Medical Center. 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